The Rebirth of a King: Broken Wings
by Cloak of Shades
Summary: Season 2 of The Rebirth of a King. After Kiritsu Kaizer receives the Muramasa from Zyra Hattori, everything within him changes. Will he ever revert back to the person he once was or will he be forever consumed by the malice and hatred that encompasses his Air Treks? Of note: This will NOT be following the air gear storyline. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy to write it.
1. Once a friend, now an enemy

_Standing alone atop a rooftop in the middle of the night, a small flickering light in the shape of a square can be seen shining bright amongst the dark atmosphere. The beady eyes of a human's gold eyes can be seen observing the light. He is staring intently on the image in front of him, the one he once knew as a friend who now is forever lost to him. He does not know what he must do but he stands there and stares at the recording as if it was his mission, no, his life to figure out what must be done._

_"__For all of you scared cockroaches who are pinned to the ground, for all those out there who have their wings snapped against their will… for all of you who have been wronged, who have been restrained, who have been hurt, who have been destroyed… I am here for you. My name is Kiritsu Kaizer. I am the Blood King and starting today, my Rebirth to power has begun. Takeuchi Sora, I know you are watching… you know where I am, you know what I'm capable of. The ball is in your court and it's time to play ball." __The recording replayed for the 10,000__th__ time._

[Higashi Highschool Roof]

As the man stands alone and stares at the screen once again repeating the recording, he quickly jolts up at a break in his surroundings. He hears the sound of revving AT's and immediately shuts off the recording and faces the noise. As he turns around to see who it is that made the source of the noise, his sights come upon a familiar yet unwelcomed face. It was Miyuri, and it seems that she was there to talk, hopefully.

"Hiyu." The woman said in a slightly disgusted yet appropriate tone.

"Miyuri." The man named Hiyu replied back in the same fashion.

"You know why I'm here don't you?" She asked as if trying to ascertain what Hiyu was doing here atop the rooftops at night.

"Yea, I got an idea but I'm not sure I'm the person you want to be discussing this with." Hiyu replied to the question as if trying to stay out of the problem altogether.

"This is your fault to begin with, you need to help me and take responsibility for your actions." The lavender haired woman said with a slight bite behind her words.

"My fault? You think I caused all of this?" The man replied almost hurt at the comment. He was clearly ticked off but he knew that he was actually somewhat at fault with what happened. He did indeed give the Blood King his AT's again. Sure they didn't have the Regalia in them and it wouldn't have changed him at all if he started to ride again but he was the initial cause and he knew this. It didn't take Miyuri long though to immediately point that out to him.

"You're the one who gave him his wings again and no matter how much that makes me happy to know this, you're the one who made it all start again. You need to-" She was immediately cut off after that

"And what the hell do you expect me to do about it?!" Hiyu blurted out in anger. "I can't reach him anymore with my words. I can't speak with him at all and he refuses to talk to me! How can I help you when the man doesn't want help himself?!" He continued nearly out of breath from his yelling.

"Then are you just going to run away?! Like you always do?!" Miyuri retorted, trying to calm him down.

It wasn't going to work that easily though, she knew the connection between the two of them. She knew how deep their bonds were when it came to AT's, living and even personalities. They were brothers. They were two entities that shared a common goal more closely than anyone she had ever seen. It was heart wrenching for her to continue her argument but she had to have Hiyu's side on this or she wouldn't stand a chance trying to fix this predicament the entire AT world faced.

"You've seen what he's done in the past 6 months that he's been 'Reborn' on that day. You've see the chaos that has ensued in the AT world. It's no longer just Storm Riders who ride at night vandalizing streets. There have been killings, rapes, revolutions and even territorial wars that are being fought by Storm Riders. This carnage, this chaos… it has to end." Miyuri stated, trying to hold back her tears. "He's no longer the one who I thought he was… he's returned back to his dark past but this time it's gotten worse. He's angry at the world for what they did to him. He's angry at all of the kings who imprisoned him and cut his wings. He wants his revenge and he isn't going to stop until all that we've strived to achieve for is burning and crumbling to the ground." Miyuri said before falling to her knees and staring down at the ground.

"I… I can't do this by myself…" She muttered, trying to hold herself together. "Please… help me…"

Hiyu didn't know what to do at this point. He knew that his friend, his comrade… his brother, had gone too far with his ideals and he needed to be stopped. There was a problem though. Would he be the water that would disperse this flame, or would he just be the oil that would bring this fire into a inferno?

"I…" Hiyu started, trying to find the words that were trapped in his throat. "I… I don't know if I'll be able to do anything… Hell I don't even know if what I'll be doing will fix this problem or just make it worse… but I do know that he has to be stopped." He said before looking down at the screen to see the picture of his friend on his phone. It wasn't that unfamiliar of a face that was seen etched on the LED lights but it definitely wasn't the person who he thought it was. Something had changed inside of his friend. He wasn't staring at his brother… no, he was staring at the 'Blood King'.

"Yeah… you're right… I can't standby anymore and hope for things to get better…" Hiyu resolved himself, knowing deep inside that if he was to fight against his brother, he would have to either kill him or be killed. "I'll… I'll help you." The gold-haired man said reluctantly before looking finally at the woman in the eyes. "However… if we're to stop him, we're going to need a lot more people at our skill level than just you and I." He put as a caveat at the end.

"I was thinking the same thing… so I called in some help." She replied back as the sound of more wheels started to reach the man's ears.

In a matter of seconds, five familiar faces showed themselves in front of Hiyu. He didn't expect to see them but he was glad to have met their gazes as they all landed upon the rooftop. It was truly a sight to behold as it was one that he hadn't seen since their team had last formed. In a row he saw five kings… no, five long forgotten friends in front of him.

Rika – The Thorn Queen.

Spitfire – The Flame King.

Nue – The Thunder King.

Killik – The Gem King.

Agito – The Fang King.

As he looked at their faces, he knew that they were all thinking the same thing. There was one obstacle though, one question that kept ringing in the back of his head like a foreboding omen: "Would this be enough?"

The fierce gaze of the man looked back over at Miyuri. "What about Ikki Minami? Is he to be expected to help as well?" He asked, not expecting him to show.

"He's currently at wits end as to what side he should take." She replied back as she peered over at Spitfire. "I'm still curious as to why you showed up Spitfire." The feminine storm rider commented.

"Is it truly that odd to see someone who wishes to help because he shares somewhat the same goals?" The red, fiery-haired man replied as he strolled up next to her.

"It's the 'somewhat' that I'm worried about." She replied before the rowdiest of the bunch bursted out from his silence.

"Fuck! I'm sick and tired of waiting around. Let's get this show on the road!" Agito yelled out at the others before dashing atop the railings and crouching as if he were ready to pounce like a tiger. "We've got no time to just be sitting around and waiting for the best opportune time to strike. We have to do something about this now before it gets even more out of hand than it is already." The Fang King protested as balanced himself upon the railing.

"Actually, I beg to differ on that." Spitfire retorted at the ball of anger that was forming on the railing. "This is the perfect time for us to sit and think of how to combat this issue. If we try to go in right now with no plan of attack, we're just going to be worse off than if we were to properly think things through to provide the best situation possible." The Flame King explained.

"I already have a plan of attack." Agito replied. "I'm going to slash and rip him to shreds!" He roared before tearing down the rail he was balancing on.

"For once, I actually agree with shark boy on this. I'm tired of sitting around 'planning' on what we need to do. I don't know about all of you but I plan to finish this thing as soon as I see him." The small boy in mechanical armor said as he revved up his AT's as well to show his anger despite his tone of voice. "Besides… I still owe him for what he did to me in our last fight… I'm going to make sure that bastard pays." Nue spat out as if acid was coming from his mouth.

"But what about Nike?" The Thorn Queen intervened. "Don't forget what he did to him." She warned the kid that stood before her as if she were a caring mother trying to look after a child. "Nike, even though I despise his existence as well as what he's done, I won't deny that his defense as well as his skills as a rider are not one to be taken lightly. That same person was completely done in by a man without a regalia active." She addressed the entire group.

"What's more is that there's talk that he has fully regained his strength with a regalia currently being fitted onto him by the Hattori Family." Killik continued. "We, as King and Queens of the Trophaeum Tower, all know what kind of power the Hattori Family holds when making Regalia. This is not a type of fight that we can beat with an overpowering force of high level riders. This conflict is only going to be resolved by careful planning… and a great deal of luck." The Gem King ended before leaning back against the fence that was posted around the perimeter of the roof.

There was a great deal of silence on the roof of the school after that. The weight of the situation in front of the group of seven had finally been laid bare. There was an eerie feeling in the air. It was almost as if like the oxygen in the atmosphere had completely been swallowed up and it slowly started to suffocate the entire world. It persisted for another few minutes before the whirring sound of a motor from a pair of AT's could be heard emanating from the nearby neighborhood.

Instantly reacting to the noise, all seven King-class storm riders turned to face that oncoming rider that was rapidly approaching their location. They knew who it was just from the sound that was coming from the wheels of the AT's but it wasn't the sound of the lone rider that made them adorn the look of shock that was apparent on their faces. It was the sound of the air whipping across their faces as a torrent of gust and gale came upon them like a typhoon on an island. In a magnificent display of aerial acrobatics and control, Ikki Minami landed atop the small building that covered the stairwell that led to the roof.

"Ikki…" Rika grimaced as she noticed his composure. She knew exactly what was going on and what he was going through. She knew this would be one of the toughest times of his life and she would want nothing more than to keep him from it… however, she didn't know if she would be able to.

As he slowly regained his composure from his landing and stood there with his back turned, small glints of white could be seen trailing from his face and through the air. It was apparent at that moment that he was truly heart-stricken.

"It's okay Rika-nee… I decided a long time ago that I would do what I could to make a difference in this world…" He said as he turned around and showed the tears running down his face. "And if it means that I have to fight… and even kill my friend… then I'll do it to protect the things I cherish most." He resolved himself.

Hiyu stood there in the back astonished. It took him a long time to come to a conclusion, in fact, he probably resolved himself to this cause when Miyuri showed up. How was it that someone of his age, not even out on his own yet, could speak with words so heavy as if they were a way of life?

Stepping up to draw the meeting to a conclusion, Spitfire set down a small orb in the middle.

"This was given to me so we could get a grasp of the situation and battlefield that we will have to fight on when we encounter the Blood King. Compliments of Aeon." Spitfire commented, remembering his old yet slightly gender-curious friend.

As soon as Spitfire rolled himself back to complete the circle that everyone made around the sphere on the ground, the aforementioned object quickly started to spin around as if it were a cue ball on a pool table.

As the roof started to crack in vicinity of where the ball was rotating, the friction started to get so out of hand that combusted the ball in a torrent of miniature flames. The glow from the silver ball had changed and in turn so did the flames from red to an aqua blue. As it slowed down to a stop, the burning object in the ground simmered until four prongs jolted out from the sides of the ball and injected themselves into the ground as if to act as a support. A small hole could be seen forming at the top of the ball and as if the world had jumped ahead a good 500 years, the enigma which soon formed to be Aeon Clock had appeared before them.

"*Ahem*" The enigma coughed before starting his introduction. "Good evening everyone. My name, as you all know by now, is Aeon Clock. I like long walks on the beach and I enjoy a good old-fashioned time dancing under the sunset. But enough about me, we're not here on a blind date, we're not here to discuss matters in a sexual nature… no… we're here tonight to talk about The Blood King." The projection emanating out of the orb in the ground dispersed itself into a different, grander state, than it was before. As it started to play through the scenery that it was depicting, Aeon's voice picked up again.

"What I have gathered thus far is that The Blood King is currently residing in the general area of San Diego, California. What you see here is the San Diego harbor as well as the greater city of San Diego itself. Currently my intel on him shows him getting off a flight that just touched down a few days ago. It's unknown why he has gone to America but as we all know, it can't be that good." Aeon's voice stated before the image blurred out and another one took its place.

"These are a couple of the photos that we were able to take before losing contact with the squad. They sent it to me just before they lost connection so it's most likely that they are either dead or currently being interrogated which will subsequently lead to death." Aeon said, not wavering in his tone despite the lives of several people being destroyed. "From these photos we have come to a couple conclusions:

Number one: He's being funded by the Hattori Family to further his goals.

Number two: We know where he will be headed next based off of the tickets depicted in his hand as well as our contacts in the airlines.

Number three: We have an idea on what he plans to do next… and might I say, it's not going to be very good."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Agito interjected at the projection as if hoping for an explanation.

"Now, around this time I'm thinking the shark boy is going to lash out with a question like: 'What the fuck is that supposed to mean?' or 'Why in the fuck should we care?' so as to answer those questions I'll just say one thing: It's our responsibility to keep the balance of the AT world and the rest of the world separate so as not to disrupt the balance. We're here to make sure that AT's don't become a weapon and that is most likely what Kiri- sorry… It's most likely what The Blood King is going to do." Aeon Clock explained as Agito quickly started to fume from his already-expected question.

"So basically he's in America with the hopes to change things drastically for the world." Hiyu said to himself as he watched the projection change yet again to depict the entire world.

"So far, we've been tracking The Blood King via his cell phone as well as the group that he is travelling with." The voice said before showing yet another picture of The Blood King with a familiar yet unexpected face.

It was Zyra Hattori.

"W-What?" Miyuri blurted out unintentionally as she looked at the face of the red-haired woman. "How… how is she still alive?" She questioned her sanity as the picture faded out yet again and Aeon replaced the empty void.

"These photos were taken just recently. There's no doubt in our research thus far, The Blood King is most likely going to start a revolution over in the USA." Aeon summarized as he reverted back to human height. "This concludes the brief. If there are any questions, ask them now. I've prepared pre-made responses to answer your questions that I thought you might have." The recording said as it sat there patiently.

"You said beforehand about a revolution… what did you mean by that?" Hiyu asked, not expecting a reply.

The phantom version of Aeon looked over at the originator of the noise and took a moment before speaking.

"What I meant about the revolution is that it will be an upbringing like with what is happening here… however, it is going to be far more drastic and the outcome is going to be that much more unbearable to control if he gets his way. The end result, if he gets his way, would lead to anarchy between Storm Riders and the rest of society in America." The hologram of Aeon said before returning to his original position, awaiting another question.

"Is there any way to seal his power back up again, like we did last time?" Rika asked.

Again, the hologram looked towards the originator of the noise and took a moment before answering.

"Though it is wishful thinking, it is highly unlikely that any of us will be able to seal up the Blood King's powers again. There's no way that we would be able to get close enough to do such an act and the only person who was able to pull it off before had to sacrifice his Regalia in order to do so." Aeon responded. "However… that doesn't mean it's impossible. As of right now, I am reconfiguring the Light Regalia with the help of Toul Tool Tou to restore the Regalia to its original power. With this, we may have a shot at doing it again… no guarantees though." The hologram finished before reverting back to its original position.

"Do we know of any weak points in his techniques or anything that we can use to our advantage?" Nue asked, finally getting involved in the situation as it seemed to finally start to dawn on him that this was a serious matter.

"We're not entirely sure if there is a weakness or weak point on The Blood King. After analysis of his AT's, the Muramasa, we've come to the conclusion that it enhances his previous abilities. This is why he has such monstrous strength as well as technique. A word of caution though, The Blood King has not fully awakened to his prior strength… this is just a milestone for him to tap into that strength. The Muramasa, provided by the Hattori family, has awakened him partially which is why it seems he has restored to his prior ruthlessness but in reality, it's just the AT's that are forcing that strength out. He hasn't regained any of his signature techniques so all that he currently has is the strength that is being forced out." The projection explained as it zoomed in on a photo of the AT's.

The wheels on the Muramasa were black in design with red lettering engraved on the wheels. Etched into each wheel weas the name 'Muramasa' and the parts surround the wheels, which made up the AT, were black and red in color. From the inexperienced eye, it seemed just to be a custom-made regular AT… however to the Kings; it revealed to them that there were extra parts within the contraption which shook the very foundation of their core.

"I-Is that…?" Miyuri mumbled under her breath as if she had seen a ghost.

"As you can see… it is as we have feared." Aeon Clock's hologram stated before zooming in deeper into the AT's. "The Hattori family has finally completed it." It said in a cryptic tone.

"The Black Wings…" Hiyu muttered to himself as he clenched his fists and stared down at the ground.

[Elsewhere, Abandoned Building]

It was a dark and decrepit place… the sun seemed to steer well and clear from this area even though it was broad daylight as the sun was shining overhead. There were several people, all wearing AT's gathered around the area. On a pile of wooden crates, sitting atop a chair roughly 10 feet in the air, there is a man wearing a black pair of AT's wrapped in a shroud of darkness with red eyes piercing out within the shadows. He looks down at his watch and notices that it is almost midnight.

"It's almost time…" The man says to himself as he looks over towards a male rider crouching down on some boxes near him.

"Are the preparations complete?" The man asks the shirtless rider.

"Yeah… just waiting for it to hit midnight… Blood King." The man replies back before jumping off the wooden crates and landing in the center of the room. "The time is almost nigh to start our operation." The shirtless rider started before turning around and taking a small bow towards the Blood King. "We're all awaiting your orders, sir."

As soon as the words came to his ears, The Blood King rose from his make-shift throne and started to rev up his AT's. With just a slight grunt of force in an exertion towards the large wooden doors, they completely shattered from what seemed to be a large gust of razor sharp winds. As the pieces fell to the ground, they disintegrated into their smallest form possible. It couldn't even be classified as saw dust as the wind quickly made the piles of dust disappear into the darkness.

"We now begin operation: Broken Wings." The Blood King stated before jumping off from his throne. As he landed onto the ground, he completely vanished from sight and only skid marks of red and black could be seen going forth into the night of day.

That day was the day that everything changed from bad… to worse.

**Alright. To everyone who actually read this and didn't read Season 1, I have no idea why you wouldn't do this since it probably doesn't make sense to you right now. As for everyone else who has been keeping up with me and my Fanfiction, thank you for continuing to read my work. Please let me know if you have any OC's that you would like to incorporate into my story as I am about to need a shit ton of them for what I plan to create. This can be anything from teams to roads to just about anything that you, the reader may want in this fanfic. Give me a PM or a review and I'll be sure to take it into account as I make the next chapter.**

**For anyone who helped me by adding in an OC from the previous season that I included, please rest assured that I have not forgotten about your OC's and I will be bringing them back into The Rebirth of a King: Broken Wings. Please be patient as work is killing me right now and I might not be able to update that frequently due to this.**

**Last but not least, thank you everyone for the encouragement and reviews… please be sure to continue to support me as it is all that I am going on to keep this going despite my lack of sleep as is. Hope you enjoyed this opening as much as I enjoyed writing it, I'll see you all next time.**

**P.S. I have added in the Template for people who wish to request to add in an OC. It is posted on my Profile page at the bottom so if you wish to add an OC, you now know where to go. Thanks again and I'll be sure to respond to your reviews/PM's when I have the time.**


	2. A Proposition

_The Black Wings… A mysterious piece in the Muramasa that has Hiyu and the rest of the kings on edge… what could possibly shake them so much even though it's just a couple of parts? It didn't really matter much if they couldn't find the Blood King. Little did they know though, that operation: Broken Wings had already started. The die has now been cast. It was time to play ball and none of the players were ready for what was soon to come._

[Higashi City, Local Plaza]

Miyuri, knowing the entire situation and being the kind-hearted person that she was, kept in contact with the rest of the Shinsengumi team. They didn't know what happened to Kiritsu, only that he left that one night and hadn't been back to school or in the area since. It was odd to them that their once powerful leader had just left them in the dust and darkness like a piece of trash. They wanted answers, and they were going to get them today.

Miyuri had decided after getting the briefing from Aeon to gather both the Shinsengumi and Kogarasumaru with Ikki Minami to discuss the matters at hand. All around the large table, both teams sat, looking at one another as they waited for both Miyuri and Ikki to show.

"I don't like this… why would Miyuri and Ikki call us all out here at once to discuss things when I clearly don't want to this shark boy's face again…" Kisaragi grunted to himself as he tried his best to contain his anger.

"Look here you little bitch; I don't want to be here with you anymore than you do. You're lucky you're still breathing after our match all those months ago."Agito replied back with the same amount of venom in his words.

"Alright then, you want to go again you little fishboy? I'll kick your ass for sure this time!" Kisaragi yelled back at him as he rose from his chair.

"I would like to see nothing more. Give me a reason to shred you to pieces like I did your elder brother!" The Fang King spat back as he too rose from his chair.

Immediately responding to the hostilities, Buccha, the largest of the entire bunch, got up and placed a hand on both of their shoulders before smiling his Buddha-like smile.

"Come now… we're all here for the same reason, no need to disturb the peace on a nice day like this." Buccha commented as he looked up into the sky. "However, if you insist on fighting…" he added before looking down with a glare that would freeze a man's blood stiff. "…Then I'll just have to make sure you won't be able to." He ended his statement before exerting his strength in his arms upon them both, making them retract back into their seats and even further to break both the chairs and send them on their asses into the concrete.

"Now then… that's better." He commented before going back to his chair and sitting down as if nothing happened with a gleaming smile protruding from his face.

"Well, I'm not sure why they all wanted us here… but it's going to be for a reason." Daisuke commented, which threw every member on team Shinsengumi off.

It was rather unusual to hear a comment from Daisuke since he was always quiet and never really said much. He was like the shadow of the group. Never really talked, never really said much of anything to note and he always hid like it was his purpose to. It was then that he was nicknamed "Ninja" because of his ability to do so.

"It's probably something to do with Kiritsu. I've never seen Ikki so high-strung in his life." Kazu commented as he sat there with his arms crossed and his gray hat on his head, slightly covering up his eyes.

"Even so, they're taking their sweet ass time to get here. We might as well have ordered a fucking pizza so we could at least not feel like we came here for nothing." Arashi pouted slightly before getting up and getting a soda.

"Mmm… well I don't mind the wait… if I get to see Miyuri again in her tight outfit, I can die a happy life." Onigiri smiled before imagining Miyuri in the skimpiest outfit he could think of. His face slowly started to turn red and a small trail of blood could be seen falling down from his pig-like nose.

"Hehe, you're such a simple person Onigiri…" Kazu replied to the now lard-like puddle that resembled Onigiri.

It was another couple of minutes before they all started to wonder where exactly were the two that called them out here in the middle of the day. It slowly started to seem like thing weren't going to change and it felt like they had been stood up on a date. All of those thoughts were dispelled though when they heard two sets of AT's start barreling down the street. It was odd at first though since it seemed to be coming from above… actually that wouldn't be that odd of a statement since they were coming from above.

As they all focused their hearing skills on the source of the noise, they all looked up to see both Miyuri and Ikki grinding down the walls of a nearby tall building and just as they were about to hit the ground, they jumped off the wall and landed on two separate railings that led them straight to the meeting point.

"What the hell took you so long Ikki?" Kazu looked at his old friend as he strolled on up to meet the group.

"We both got side-tracked and needed to sort some things out. Sorry for the wait… besides, I thought you would've at least gotten a pizza for everyone to have when we showed up." Ikki said, criticizing the man in front of him for his lack of understanding of others.

"See? I told you!" Arashi stated before strolling up with a corn dog and a drink.

"Oh shut it. No one asked you." The silver-haired rider replied back before sitting down and returning to his cross-armed pose.

As both Miyuri and Ikki got situated at the table, there was a long silence before the least likely person to talk, spoke up again.

"So… why did you call us all out here Miyuri? …Ikki?" Daisuke commented before retracting back to the nearest shadow he could find which just happened to be a small tree a couple feet away.

"W-Well… That's…" Miyuri tried speaking about what she wanted to talk about in the first place. It seemed rather hard for her for some reason but only two of the others in the entire group knew what she was going through.

"We've come to talk to you guys about Kiritsu…" Ikki stated before taking a deep breath and collecting his thoughts together. "…What do you guys plan to do about the situations that have transpired these past few months?" Ikki asked as plainly as he could, yet couldn't get to the bottom line of what he wanted to put out.

"W-Wait what?" Kisaragi questioned the spiky-haired fellow across the table from him. "What do you mean situation?"

"What I mean is…" Ikki tried to say what was on his mind but was completely mimicking what Miyuri was doing just a few seconds ago.

"What he means is that Kiritsu, a.k.a. The Blood King has started to make his move and has started to destroy what we, the kings of the Trophaeum Tower have tried to peacefully keep intact since Storm Riders have been made known. He wants to destroy this foundation. We don't know why but we wanted to know what your viewpoints were on this." Agito explained since he felt that he was the only one with balls enough to say it without a hitch.

There was another long silence after that. Apparently no one in the group knew what was going on, or at least didn't know Kiritsu was the cause of it all. Sure, there were rapes and killings by Storm Riders but it wasn't like they knew it was all caused by Kiritsu… they just thought it was some upbringing by a couple of bad eggs that would spoil the whole bunch.

"Well… I don't know if it accounts for anything but… I want to know what's going through his head… I first met the bastard when he came and interrupted my kendo training. He got me back into being a storm rider by beating me in a match fair and square…" Kisaragi said before looking up at Miyuri. "I want to help in any way I can so I can find the truth myself." He finally affirmed himself with his blue, steely gaze.

"I want to know as well. Kiritsu was a good person… he was like me, a shadow in the class and an outcast… a little sadistic since he used my friend against me so as I would join his team but the small amount of time I spent with him was something that I felt was truly special… I want to know what's going through his head and perhaps assist with this matter." Daisuke said before once again retracting to his shadowy spot.

"Well, I don't want to be a part of this." Arashi said outright.

"W-What the hell?!" Ikki retorted at his statement in complete shock. "You're his teammate and you would just see him off like that?"

"This has nothing to do with me. I was only a part of the team for one night. The only reason I came here was to cut my ties here. I have no reason to stay in this team, I have no reason to care about this team." Arashi reaffirmed himself.

"You've got to be kidding me-!" Ikki started before Miyuri cut in.

"Ikki… it's okay." Miyuri interrupted the argument. "He's right… he was just dragged in at the last second. I know he hasn't been a part of the team for very long so it doesn't strike me in the least that he doesn't want to be a part of this." Miyuri explained before looking back at Arashi.

"However… do you really think that you hold no part in this?" Miyuri asked him as she got up to face him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arashi asked, slightly confused at the question.

"What I mean is… do you really think that if you wash your hands of the situation in front of you that it won't personally affect you in any way?" Miyuri specified before taking a step closer to him.

"Do you really think that you'll be safe from what's to come if the worst comes to worst?" Miyuri said taking another step. "Do you truly believe that the problem won't come knocking on your doorstep and come to change your life against your will?" Miyuri continued by taking yet another step. "And furthermore… and what I truly believe is most important… Can you truly live with yourself after the fact that you had the chance to do something about this yet you turned it away because you thought it wouldn't affect you?" Miyuri questioned Arashi as she took one final step and was no more than a foot away from him.

"I-I…" Arashi stuttered trying to find the words to counteract her statements. "I…" He couldn't voice out the words that were trapped in his throat.

It wasn't that he was afraid of saying what was coming to mind but every time a reason came up, he analyzed it and looked back on his own self-conscious to realize what exactly was coming out of his mouth. Everything that Miyuri had said was true. It was amazing to him that someone who he had barely met, someone who he barely knew, knew so much about him and used it against him so he would second-guess himself. It was all that was needed for him to realize that this was a problem that wouldn't be solved by just standing on the sidelines and hoping for the outcome to resolve itself… he knew from then on that he had to take action.

"I see…" He finally said looking down at the ground.

His shoulders started to shake up and down and soon after he started to laugh to himself at how he acted.

"I see now… haha… It all makes sense…" Arashi commented before looking at Miyuri. "Alright… I get the picture now… I'll help you out but you have to let me know something first." The brown-haired young man commented before sitting down in his chair. "Exactly how fucked are we when it comes to this world-scale situation?" He glared at her when she showed a shocked face at how he quickly connected the dots.

"Wait… world-scale?" Kazu sat up as he heard him say it. "What do you mean by that?" He asked, trying to stay in the loop.

"What I mean is… exactly how far has this situation gone in the past few months. I want to know exactly what we're getting ourselves into and if it's going to drag in a lot more people than we wish it to… but from what I'm hearing right now… it seems that it's a lot worse than I first thought it was." Arashi explained as he crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

Miyuri quickly turned around and returned to her seat before taking a deep breath in and exhaling out to calm herself. The cat was out of the bag now and it didn't matter what soft words she could feed them now, it wouldn't have done anything except piss them off that she would try to beat around the bush. So instead of sugarcoating it, she went right to the point.

"The fact of the matter is this: It's a lot worse than we thought it was." Miyuri started.

"Who's 'we'?" Arashi asked immediately.

"The other Kings and Queens of the Trophaeum Tower. We all met up a few days ago discussed the matter that I will be explaining now." She responded back.

"We know right now that Kiri-… sorry… The Blood King… is currently somewhere in San Diego, California. For anyone who doesn't know where this is… it's in the USA." She explained as she started to weave the tale together.

She told them what the others had discussed on the roof that night and told them that things were definitely not as they had hoped. She left out the part about the 'Black Wings' attachment to the Muramasa but other than that, she filled them in on everything, including additional information regarding to what The Blood King had planned.

"Currently, we know that he's trying to start turmoil and maybe even a revolution in America like he did here in Japan… however, if what we think is true, the outcome of this revolution will spark an all-out war amongst Storm Riders and everyone else in the world. It'll be so chaotic that government forces will have to get involved and if that happens…" Miyuri trailed off, trying her best to describe the repercussions.

"Let's just say that we don't want the governments from around the world to get involved in this." Miyuri stated before going quiet.

"There's one last thing…" Miyuri said as she recalled one last important detail. "There has been talk going around of an operation. No one really knows what it is or what is going to happen when it starts but there's been talk of an operation named Broken Wings… does anyone here know what I'm talking about when I say this?"

There wasn't an immediate response from anyone however; the look on Kisaragi's face was all that was needed to confirm Miyuri's suspicions. Kisaragi looked like he had seen a ghost when Miyuri said those two words but for whatever reason, Miyuri was sure to find out soon enough.

"T-This changes everything then…" Kisaragi finally said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out what seemed to be a plastic card with a pair of black wings that were shattered in half on one side and a code on the other.

"H-Hey where the hell did you get that?!" Kazu immediately said before pulling out the same card.

"I-I… I received the same thing as well…" Arashi mumbled before pulling his out.

"Hm… that's too strange…" Buccha stated finally before he too pulled one out. "I received this on my door this morning… it looks like to be a regular recording device in the form of a card." He explained as he placed it on the table.

"That's so strange… did anyone else receive a card?" Miyuri asked the rest of the group.

Daisuke also pulled out his card at the question and placed his down but no one else did.

"So only you five got a card…" Miyuri thought to herself after a long moment before gathering up the cards on the table and looking through them.

Nothing was different about these cards. They all had the same design with the same code listed on the back. There was a slight indent in the side of the card which showed which side needed to be placed in first as if it would be placed inside of a computer. This confirmed Buccha's previous comment on it being a type of program or recording device.

"Does anyone have a computer that is compatible with this type of card reader?" MIyuri asked as she stared down at the cards in her hand.

Daisuke slowly rose from his shadowy corner and pulled out what looked to be a small backpack that no one really saw him come here with. Inside, he pulled out what seemed to be a small contraption with a card reader, hooked up by a USB cord to a rubber keyboard that rolled out and flopped onto the table with a monitor that was propped up and hooked into the keyboard's other USB. In just a matter of seconds, Daisuke set up his workshop on the spot and motioned for one of the cards in Miyuri's possession.

"W-Where the hell did you get that from?" Arashi commented at the spectacle before his eyes.

"What? You have to be mobile…" Daisuke returned the question as if it was an adequate explanation. "I'm studying to become a techie… so I have to have at least some equipment like this so I can practice on the go." Daisuke finished explaining as he was handed a card.

As he inserted the card, the files in the chip of the card were pulled up onto the monitor and everyone slowly started to circle around it so they could get a view. There was only one file on the card and it seemed to be a media file. Before he clicked on it though, he went through some menus and checked the properties of the card so it wouldn't screw with anything on his computer.

"You can never be too safe…" He commented to himself before opening up the file and playing the data.

It first started off as static… as if it were a crappy transmission that had barely any connection… then it finally started to clear up and sitting there, on his throne like the evil overlord that everyone picture him as, The Blood King was staring at them with his piercing crimson gaze.

"Kiritsu!" Miyuri exclaimed as if she was actually staring at him from where the camera was positioned.

It was then that he started to speak.

"_Hello. As you might have guess by now, I am The Blood King, Kiritsu Kaizer. If you are watching this… it means that I have chosen you to become a part of my ranks. I have seen your abilities and I have seen your growth as a rider. I know what you are capable of and I feel that you would be an asset to me and my mission to change the world."_ The recording said before taking a moment of silence.

"Changing the world? What does he-" Kisaragi was cut off when someone told him to shush as the recording started to speak again.

"_Things have been set in motion that cannot be undone. Things have changed that can no longer be reverted back. This world… this system… this society that everyone has lived in until now is degrading and falling apart thanks to yours truly… Granted, it's not like I wished for the killings or the incidents in my wake take place… It was not my intention to put innocents in harm's way to achieve a goal… no… actually that's not true…"_ The recording argued with himself. _"In all reality… it was inevitable and it was something I didn't take into account. For that, if you have been negatively affected, I am truly sorry for whatever loss you have suffered. What I am offering you here today though, is not something that you should immediately discredit if you have been affected negatively."_ The recording went on.

"_Join me and my cause. Be a part of the change that will inevitably consume the world for the better. I am creating a better world where everyone can ride free. I wish to destroy the system that has bounded and destroyed so many futures for the sake of nothing. I wish to eradicate the government of the corrupt and liberate the people of the world who truly wish to ride free… for this, I require your help and I would like… no, I would beg that you would lend me your strength in creating this utopia, this world where anyone can ride free without the fears of evil clutching at your heels and snapping your wings like they once did to me."_ The recording stated before moving into what seemed to be the conclusion of its speech.

"_If you are still disheartened or unsure whether to join this cause, that's fine. Either way, this is going to happen with your without you. The ball is now in your court, it's time to move this game to the next stage and I would be pleased to know if I would have you at my side."_ The recording said before The Blood King rose from his throne and dropped down to the ground, closer to the camera.

"_Know this though… and be sure to take this to heart…"_ He said as he placed his hand upon the camera lens so that only his left eye could be seen. _"If you stand in my way… if you halt my progress towards my goal… or if you so happen to rise against me… know that I will crush you like a twig in a maelstrom. There will be no other warnings than this one… and that's a promise."_ The Blood King warned before taking his hand off of the lens and turning himself around back towards his throne.

"_That number on the back of this card is how you will get into contact with me. You have all the information you need."_ The Blood King said before cocking his head left so only part of his face could be seen. _**"I'll be waiting."**_ He finished with a genuine smile.

This last part was unlike him… It didn't feel like it was The Blood King that was talking that last bit. It was almost as if Kiritsu had taken that last few moments to say those words to someone… however it could've just been a figment of imagination that fooled the eyes. Either way, this was clearly an act of war in the eyes of the Kings and Queens of the Trophaeum Tower. The Blood King was planning something awful and it was only a matter of time until their window of opportunity would slip by and he would get his way.

[Los Angeles, California]

Elsewhere, amongst the telephone wires and large skyscraper buildings, The Blood King and his small band of fellow Storm Riders jetted across the night sky in search of the designated location. In the downtown areas of both San Diego and Los Angeles, there were two major teams throughout the areas. One team was named "The Runners". They were a rag-tag bunch of information brokers who went around exchanging information and making large networks throughout the entire western portion of the United States. They were in several different states branching out from their main hub in San Diego. If there was something that needed to be known and you had enough cash, they were your go-to 'middle-man'.

The other was named "The Slashers". They were the Yakuza-like members of a gang that slowly spread throughout the entire California region and has now started to seep out into other states that border California. While they are not as broad and as large as "The Runners" they are definitely more powerful and more skilled due to their suppliers of parts. They were supported by several foundations that helped support them in taking over the underground and since then have started to conflict with "The Runners" and their turf.

Ever since the first few incidents where blood had been spilt on both sides due to turf issues, tensions have been high and talks of peace between the two large factions have gone unanswered. With the incidents occurring over in Japan and news of it slowly starting to creep into the United States, tensions have only grown higher as both teams await the chaos to reach them. It was too late however to think through things that way… it was already upon them.

"How much farther~?" the shirtless rider said to his boss as he jumped up next to him and started to grind down a narrow pole in an alleyway.

"As I've told you before and probably will have to tell you again, we're going towards Los Angeles. It's a good two hours just with cars, let alone AT's." The Blood King responded, slightly agitated that the question kept repeating itself every 15 minutes.

"But you still haven't answered the question." The shirtless man replied before jumping ahead of the red-eyed devil and grinding backwards. "I also wanted to confirm… no, actually I wanted to settle things with you here since we're much farther ahead than the rest of the group." The spiky haired man stated.

"Oh? Now you want to voice your opinion over something so long ago?" The Blood King asked rhetorically and yet again slightly annoyed.

"Well this would be the most opportune time. Besides, if we go too much farther, they're going to lose our trail even with _her _tracking ability." The shirtless man said before jumping up from the long, narrow pole and landing on the roof of the building.

Following behind him, The Blood King leapt up into the air and gracefully landed upon the concrete that sheltered the building from the elements. Across the way he looked at his first member of his team and waited patiently as to why he wanted to talk now of all times.

"As you know, at first we were enemies that couldn't see things the same way. When you finally confronted me that one day, I wasn't sure what to expect. It seemed a little odd that you had a 'proposition' for me to consider so I couldn't just immediately accept it." The man said smiling as he put on a glare that seemed to shift his 'Happy-go-lucky' attitude. "However, now that I know what you plan to do, I have to ask you a serious question." He said as he strolled on up and stopped a few feet away from him.

"How far do you plan to go to make this goal of yours come true?" The steel gaze of the man pierced at Kiritsu as he stared into the blood-soaked eyes.

He was silent for a moment. He was wondering why he was bringing this up now. It wasn't like the plan had changed or his motivations had wavered. Was it something that he might have seen different that would make him doubt his motives? Either way, if he just needed to answer this question with the same resolution that he showed him earlier then he could dismiss these thoughts from his head and worry about other important things.

"Well… let's just put it like this: I'm willing to go as far as you were willing to." He retorted back towards the man as he rolled past him and stared up at the dark starry sky.

The moon was just starting to brilliantly pierce out from behind the clouds. It was a magnificent sight to behold. The stars were lit up like little lamp lights that danced across the sky. The abyss of the space looming over the entire sky as the moon slowly came into view. It was a rather peaceful night tonight… it was almost a shame that blood had to be spilt.

"I don't really much care if you stay by my side at this point… in fact, your presence here only bolsters my forces and provides me an 'ace in the hole' if you will. The choice was yours from the beginning for you to follow me after I confronted you. I only wanted to show you that our goal… our end and solution to everything… wasn't that far off from one another. That was the one thing that kept me from outright striking you down." The Blood King said as if he was recalling the past events like they were yesterday.

_[Flashback, Sleeping Forest Hideout]_

It was a very dark night tonight… it was almost sublime how calm the area was. There wasn't a sound about the vicinity. There wasn't a whisper or a voice that could be heard in the background. There were no car noises, no construction working, no fires burning in the background… there was just two riders, staring each other down with piercing gazes that could kill if given the chance. The scene that lay before the two forces that opposed each other in this place was almost poetic. All it needed was a spark, and everything would start to crumble down like a card house just waiting for the wisp of a wind to knock it over.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here." The Blood King said finally as he stood there with his hands in his pockets.

"And I had a feeling that you'd find me." The sky king replied back as he sat there on a large pole that was a part of the network that outlined the entire area. "So, why is it that you still hesitate to attack me outright even though you publically announced it a few days ago?"

"Did I say that I would attack you?" The Blood King asked as he was trying to make his opponent recall the message he sent out around Japan. "I never once indicated that I would fight you, nor did I indicate otherwise that I still held a grudge against you. I said, and I quote 'The ball is in your court and it's time to play ball.'" The Blood King reiterated as he jumped up and landed down on another pole across the way that was a part of the network.

"Then why are you here?" Sora asked as he put a stern look on his face to note his concern of what was to happen.

"I have a proposition for you." The white-haired man retorted back with a smile that shook The Sky King's core. "I want you to listen to what I have planned for this world…"

_[End Flashback]_

"Ever since you've seen my plan and what I told you that day, your choice has been your own." The Blood King stated before looking back at him. "I don't expect you to stay with me… in fact I'm more prepared for you to stab me in the back and betray me than anything else." He said with a glare of his crimson eyes. "I will tell you once again, I plan to change the world and I would like you to be there by my side since you share the same goal as me." The Blood King summarized his proposition again as he stood there awaiting an answer by The Sky King.

The man was silent for a few moments. He knew in his gut that something was off. Something didn't seem right. Almost as if he was getting proposed the deal of a lifetime but there was a string attached in the fine print that he hastily read over and signed his signature. It was the worst possible thing you could do in life since a contract in paper, let alone a contract between two parties.

The silence from him was broken a few seconds later when he started to laugh to himself. "Hehehahaha! Aaah… I knew there was a reason why I felt obligated to follow your actions… You're truly going to change the world in your own image aren't you?" The Sky King asked with a smile as he noticed the other riders that were trailing behind finally catch up.

"That's the plan." The Blood King replied back as he noticed his other six members jump up upon the rood of the building, catching their breath as they finally caught up.

"G-God… you fuckers move too fast…" One man said heaving his guts out. "Did you really have to try and get there as fast as possible?" he said as he finally caught his breath.

"Everyone, gather your strength and prepare for the fight of your lifetime." The Blood King finally said as he waited for his team to recuperate. "Tonight, we spill the blood of two of the dominating forces." He said as he strolled on up to the edge of the building and looked off a couple of blocks below to see riders from both ruling territories start to transit towards their meeting place.

Looking up at the starry sky, the moon had just started to set behind some clouds again. The Blood King gave a deep sigh and a look of slight remorse started to show on his face.

"It's a shame that on such a beautiful night that the worst must be done." He said to himself. "However… it's all for operation: Broken Wings." He told himself as he looked back at his team and noticed they were ready for whatever was to come their way.

With a smile protruding from their faces and the glint in their eyes that showed their leader that they were ready for whatever he asked of them, they all jumped off the roof and into the night, they became the shinigami of Los Angeles.

**Hooray! Chapter 2! Did you see it coming?! Did you?! Hopefully not since I thought it was a good twist. Things are progressing smoothly with the story and I've already started to outline the next one so hopefully it isn't too long of a wait before I update again. Once again, I ask that you help me by making OC's and teams as I will be in need of many of them. I already got a couple of ideas from some people but I still need help! If you think you have what it takes with your imagination, please take a look at my profile as it has the outline necessary to submit and OC. Thanks again for all the support, I'll be seeing you all hopefully soon. :D**


	3. Phase Two

_Los Angeles… The City of Angels. It's a city just like any other. It doesn't sleep, people try to rob you of your money and it doesn't matter what you do, if you're new in town, you're bound to be targeted. It was the same then, it's the same now… except this time the roles are reversed… instead of the newcomers being the targets… it's the people who have lived there for all their lives._

[Los Angeles, Downtown Plaza]

Staring up at the starry sky, The Blood King sighed to himself as he knew that tonight would be the night where he would make his first move. It was all to be for Operation: Broken Wings but he still had doubts about whether or not this was the right thing to do or not. It was futile though, it doesn't matter what needs to be done in order to start an upbringing, just as long as you start to shift the gears, the change will come… it just took that initial push that was the hardest part… This was that push.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked his team behind him as he stood there staring up at the moon that started to peer out over the clouds in the horizon.

"Ready when you are." The Sky King said as he strolled up beside him. "But again, I'm only willing to go as far as you're willing to go." He said in a low voice so the others wouldn't hear.

"Well, I guess that settles it then." The Blood King said to himself as he turned around to address his team.

"Tonight… we start to shift the gears of the entire world. I hope that you steel yourselves, for the coming battle shall be the worst yet. It won't be a battle for your life or a battle for victory… it's a battle for your ideals to be shoved onto another." He said in a gruesome tone as if he didn't want to go through with this plan. "It must be done though… don't have any second doubts. Harden your hearts, become dead to yourselves and remain vigilant for this is where we make our stand. This is where Operation: Broken Wings starts." He ended his motivational speech before rolling backwards and jumping up high from the ledge, into the sky.

As he slowly started to reach the peak of his jump, he rotated his body and slowly performed a backflip to regain contact with his team before shifting himself around again to face forward. In a large bellowing voice, he yelled out into the night sky. "Operation: Broken Wings! Commence!"

As the words left his mouth, he quickly descended into the streets below and jolted straight forward to his location. His teammates, taking this as their cue and fulfilling their roles, went their separate paths and slowly, yet surely, converged on the meeting area between The Slashers and The Runners. It was time to commence the plan. Every one of them, ready and willing to lay down what was needed to make sure it was to be a success. For better or worse, in life and in death, they knew the costs that would need to be paid.

Echoing through the streets as if the devil were on their heels, The Blood King's team began their assault.

[Los Angeles, Downtown Park]

The major contested area between The Slashers and The Runners was the Los Angeles National Park. It was the hub for a great deal of operations and it provided a great spot to gather intel for The Runners as well as revenue for The Slashers so it was a rather bad hot spot between the two. Since this spot has been known to benefit both sides, the leaders of the two great teams decided to use this as the "Meeting" area to discuss large ordeals as well as "peace talks" if that's what you'd call them.

In all reality it was just formalities that brought them together to do this but the second that the meeting would adjourn, another outbreak would strike just following it and another meeting would have to be held next month. It got rather tedious but despite all that had happened, the meetings still kept going.

This month was no different. Everyone who was eligible to join in would join the meeting where they liked it or not. It was the law. It was the system that kept this whole place together and it was the system that was soon about to be destroyed.

As the members started to gather into the area, you could see that there was a sort of… neutral area in the park. On one end you had The Runners, on the other you had The Slashers… in the middle were a total of 4 people: the leaders of the two factions and their best man at their side to help them out just in case something happened.

As all four of them sat down at the park bench, there was a long silence in the air. Not a sound could be heard throughout the entire park as the tensions slowly started to build up. It slowly started to become stifling, just sitting there waiting for a colossal war to break out in the park. It would be a complete massacre that wouldn't have solved a single thing and yet, it seemed inevitable.

As it soon became unbearable to remain silent any longer, the leader of The Slashers began the conversation.

"Hiro." The man said simply, addressing the other leader.

"Sanji." The man named Hiro replied back to his adversary in the same manner.

And for some reason… all conversation stopped again. It felt like that was all the two had to say each other since the noise went right back to pitch silence for the next 30 seconds. It was a tense moment again. They were right back to square one with the tension slowly rising back like a cancer that just didn't know when to quit. It was broken though when the bodyguard of The Runners finally said something.

"Yotsuki." The rider said to the other bodyguard of The Slashers.

"Carlos." The man named Yotsuki replied back with the same plain tone as the others before him.

"How have you been this fine evening?" Carlos said, trying to break the tension and moving the talks along.

"Pretty good, still have a couple of things that I need to take care of before the night's done and over with so I'm trying to wrap this up as soon as possible." He replied, sounding earnest in his response.

"Haha… yea I'm the same. It sucks that we both have to be here huh?" Carlos said smiling.

"Hey… you do know that we're still here right?" Sanji commented, a little agitated that they were forgotten about.

"Yea, you need to learn your places you two." Hiro said in turn.

"Well, we had to have someone break the ice. We're just burning night light out here." Carlos responded back to his leader. "Besides, I doubt you would have said anything for the next five minutes and you both would've left and that would've been it." Carlos commented.

Lo and behold, the leader had nothing to respond with that comment since he knew he was correct. He just wanted to sit there in silence and peacefully move on through his night since he knew this was a big waste of time.

"Well… way to go in breaking the illusion…" Hiro grumbled as he looked up at Sanji, the leader of The Slashers. "Well, I guess it's time for us to stop beating around the bush about this." He said, looking into the cerulean eyes of his adversary.

"Yes. I'm of the same accord as you." Sanji replied back to the hazel-eyed man.

They both once again stared at each other for a good moment trying to figure out how to start this meeting but nothing seemed to come to mind. Just as they were both about to get up and adjourn the meeting, if you could call it that, a whirring sound of AT's could be heard from a nearby alleyway. It was odd since no one in the area should have been riding since The Slashers and The Runners set up a perimeter with guards so no one would interrupt the meeting but there must have been one lone rider that broke through their defenses.

"Looks like we have ourselves and idiot." Hiro muttered to himself as he waited for the rider to get closer.

"Who would be stupid enough to come here at this time of night when we've clearly sealed this place off?" Sanji commented to himself as if he was expecting an answer to drop from the sky… actually his mark wasn't that far off.

As soon as the sound of the AT's stopped, the entire crowd that could hear the sound from the alleyway started to peer down the road leading to it and didn't see anyone. It was rather odd since the distance between the alley and the park where they were all sitting was a good 50 feet. It dawned on them though when someone yelled "LOOK UP!"

Above them, roughly 80 feet in the air and descending at a rapid pace, was a man clad in black. His dark shirt as well as black jeans that were covered slightly by a torn robe that was adorned on his shoulders flapped into the wind. His wheels set ablaze by the lettering and trim that surrounded the bottom of his AT's. His piercing red glare set on two people in the bunch. He was ready and waiting for his chance to strike but he would meet opposition.

In immediate response to his arrival, the two bodyguards looked at each other and motioned for their leaders to back up and avoid his landing as they were unsure what he was capable of. As they both dashed back and got out of the way The Blood King crashed into the table, creating a large smokescreen that hid him from view. The wheels at his feet could be heard with their sick and demented tone of violence and blood thirst. The look in his eyes could be seen gleaming out and piercing at the hearts of those that met his gaze.

"Which of you is named Hiro Tadashiro and Sanji Hajirama…?" The Blood King asked in a demeaning tone as if he were talking to a bunch of imbeciles.

"I am Sanji Hajirama." The leader of The Slashers said proudly as he walked out in front of his bodyguard.

"And I am Hiro Tadashiro." The leader of The Runners said in turn as he too stepped out in front of his bodyguard and stood next to the other leader.

"Who the fuck are you?" They both said as if they were brothers with the same thing on their mind.

"My name… is not important. What is important… is that you both must meet your end as Storm Riders tonight." The red-eyed man said before dashing forward and committing himself to a forward spin to a double axe kick.

Completely in sync with one another, both leaders jumped back just far enough to dodge the attack and immediately retaliated as The Blood King landed. Their attacks with their legs were in vain though since he quickly dodged them both by spinning by his feet and perfectly placing himself spinning in the air in between both low kick and high kick.

Quickly reacting to this, The Blood King placed both hands on the ground and launched himself off to kick them both in the chest to send them flying back. As he landed on the ground the two bodyguards chose this as their window of opportunity and both took a swing at The Blood King with a dual high kick which was easily avoided by him bending back. Going with the momentum of his bending, the sadistic man made a series of back flips before he was 15 feet away from the group of four.

"Kill his ass!" The leader of The Slashers yelled as his minions did his bidding and started to converge on him.

Standing there with his hands in his pockets and looking up at the sky, The Blood King started to smile as he noticed one of his team members finally decided to join in on the fight. Little did the enemy know though that it was probably the worst person that could've shown up.

"Look out below!" Sora yelled at the top of his lungs to gain the attention of everyone below him.

Just before he impacted the ground with his fist, Kiritsu jumped up above ground level so the shockwave of razor wind wouldn't affect him as it did the others who were within the 30 foot radius of the blast.

"**Wind Style, Razor wind blast!" **Sora chuckled to himself as he named his move as if it were a ninja technique.

'What am I going to do with you…?' The Blood King thought to himself as he strolled up beside his team member.

"Are the preparations complete?" He asked his counterpart as he looked over at his prey.

"Yeah, just give the word and we'll start rolling." The shirtless man replied.

"Good. Hold them off while I take care of the targets." He said to the shirtless madman as he started to roll forward.

"Will do boss man." The Sky King replied as he took up a fighting stance. "Haha… alright then, let's have some fun everyone!" The man roared into the night.

[Two Hours later… Higashi Plaza, Japan]

Sitting around the computer, team Kogarasumaru and team Shinsengumi stared at the recording of the video and watched as it cut to static. It was rather abrupt since no one knew what he meant by "I'll be waiting." It was just too… different to see that. It was as if you completely hated someone from birth and then they finally cracked slightly to show a sweet and compassion other self that was only for a fraction of a second. You didn't know if it were your eyes playing tricks on you or if it was actually real but you didn't want to call that person out on it. Either way, it was what it was… They could only go off the facts that they had laid before them. This was going to be a world-wide war for sure from the sound of it.

"What did he mean by **'I'll be waiting'**?" Miyuri commented to herself.

"No idea… but whatever it was, it's clearly a message sent to those select few who he deemed 'worthy' of being a part of this madness." Kisaragi replied, unsure of what to make of the situation. "This is far beyond what anyone thought would happen. I don't know what we should do in this situation…" He continued, trying to find an answer to this insurmountable task.

"Well, there's really nothing we can do at the moment to help the situation…" Ikki jumped in as if he were a shining ray of hope. "…The only thing we CAN do right now is gather more to our cause and try to face the threat when the time comes." He said as if he were thinking this war was going to turn into a red vs. blue colossal fight of the ages, when in reality… it actually wasn't that far off from the mark.

"For once, I think I agree with Crow on this." Agito, the quietest of the bunch finally said, shocking the entire group. "We need to know who our allies are… I don't know about you but I don't think I can take on 300 riders by myself… though it would be rather entertaining to rip my road through all of them." Agito said with a grinning devilish smile.

"Why don't we just try and reason with him?" Onigiri thought aloud, trying to throw out the left-field comment.

"Impossible." Daisuke intervened, completely shutting down Onigiri's thought on the matter. "You saw the video right? You can't just dismiss this and think that someone of that caliber of charisma is going to listen to negotiation… he's a believer that truly thinks this world is evil and needs to be purged." Daisuke elaborated, bringing to light the situation that was obscured to Onigiri.

"W-Well then… how are we supposed to bolster our forces? There's no way that we can catch up to him at this rate. He's already halfway around the world and it looks like he's going to slowly start creeping his way around until he wraps this whole place up in darkness…" Kazu said, sounding as if this was going to be the end of the world.

"Wait a second… say that again?" Miyuri thought aloud as if a revelation hit her. "You're saying he's creeping around the world and is going to wrap the whole planet in darkness…?" Miyuri tried to think aloud as a plan started to formulate.

"W-Well… yeah… I guess? He's already done damage here in Japan and is starting to head to America to do the same thing… I doubt he's gonna stop there." Kazu explained his thought process.

"Actually, you might be right on that…" Miyuri replied back as her plan finally started to come to light. "Thank you Kazu, I think you might have just started something by saying that." She commented with a smile.

"W-wait what?!" Kazu reacted, trying to ascertain what she meant.

"Haha… what I mean is that you're right in your presumptions… or at least I hope you're right… The Blood King is slowly starting to make his way across the world, spreading his influence and gaining numbers on his side as he tries to make his ideal world a reality. So, what do you suppose WE do to counter-act this?" Miyuri asked the group as she tried to lean them into what she was thinking.

There was a long silence amongst the group of individuals as they tried to tap into the subconscious of Miyuri's mind to figure out what she was thinking. It was in vain though when finally someone got tired of trying to think and just blurted out an answer.

"U-Um… we do the same thing? I don't know." Arashi said abruptly.

"Exactly." Miyuri responded as she was waiting for that exact answer.

"W-Wait a second… what?!" Arashi reacted to her comment as if it were a slap across the face.

"C'mon I thought you were smarter than this Arashi." Miyuri complained as the man stumbled with his words.

"Well I get the idea your placing on the table but you've got to be kidding me!" Arashi retorted back in the same complaining tone to the mad woman's thoughts.

"What's so wrong about it?"

"Everything!" he immediately responded. "There's no way we can make our own alliances and hope to build a force large enough to face him by just going the opposite direction!" Arashi explained in an apprehensive tone that would beg to question whether or not he was actually against the idea of doing it.

"Well then, do you have a better idea?" Miyuri pinned the question on him as if it were a needle against his heart.

He was dumbstruck there. She had him in a corner and he knew for a fact that it was an actually plausible idea… crazy sure, but still plausible. With a little more fidgeting and a little bit of thought thrown into the process, Arashi sunk his head down low and admitted his inevitable defeat.

"N-No… I don't have another idea…" He muttered to himself just loud enough for her to hear.

"Alright then, how about everyone else? Does anyone feel like this isn't a good idea?" Miyuri asked.

In immediate response, three people rose their hands… namely Kazu, Kisaragi and Daisuke. They were immediately dismissed though when Miyuri stood up and took a count.

"Alright then looks like the majority rules!" she smiled as she sat back down again.

"What the hell is that?!" They all said in unison.

"What? We don't have time for this… besides; I know what you all must be thinking about this but trust me it can work… I mean really, in the movies you've always seen good triumph by gathering up a large enough force against the forces of evil. Haven't you ever seen Lord of the Rings? I mean c'mon if the Americans can do it, so can we." Miyuri complained, trying to make the boys see it her way.

"Still! Do you really think this is a movie? This is our lives on the line for Christ's sake!" Kazu interjected with a valid point. "I mean sure we can't just sit around and just do nothing but we can't just automatically be on the front lines and fight it out against one of the most terrifying threats in the AT world! That's just asking for a death wish." Kazu ended his complaints by sitting back down and crossing his arms.

"I don't want to fight a war against friends… this isn't what AT's were meant for…" Kazu muttered to himself as he pulled his hat down to cover his eyes.

Staring at his computer, typing away like a madman, Daisuke zoomed through several browser windows before coming to a page linked to what he was trying to search for the entire time the conversation was running. It was a simple browser… there were several videos of random feeds that were playing live stream and all labeled their separate titles to distinguish what they were about… the one that caught his eye though, was a simple titled video that was streaming that very second… it's name was operation: Broken Wings.

"G-Guys…" Daisuke said to himself just loud enough to gather a few of their attention. "Y-You're going to have to take a look at this…" He said, trying to get his voice out from his throat.

On the screen, was a video streaming live of the Los Angeles Park Plaza. It was a little fuzzy to see but you could definitely tell that it was night time and that it was angled from somewhere up high. Looking down, were two familiar faces. One was The Blood King in his dark robed ensemble, the other… was a shirtless rider who some thought looked like Sora but they couldn't really be sure since it was such poor quality.

"Hey Daisuke, can you up the output of the image to make it run smoother?" Ikki asked, trying to speak the lingo of techies.

"Well, I get the point you're trying to make with what you said but no I can't… at least, not now since it's going to take a bit… give me five minutes and I'll see if I can increase the power of the signal and retrace it so it comes in as a better image…" Daisuke said before popping up some other windows and reconfiguring the statistics of his computer to better match the video.

"Aaaand… done." Daisuke said finally before tapping the enter key.

As the screen changed resolutions and re-appeared again, the video took full screen and was now crystal clear. The scene before them was a gruesome one at that… so gruesome in fact that it almost made Arashi throw up his lunch that he had just thirty minutes ago.

"W-What the hell is this…?" Kisaragi said in disbelief.

"Operation: Broken Wings…" Daisuke answered him as the video continued to play.

[Apartment building, Los Angeles]

Sitting in the bed alone at night, The Blood King rested his wounds and started to recuperate from the long fight that he didn't account for in his plan. He was battered and bruised. There were several towels coated with blood as well as several bandages that could be seen wrapped around his body. The aches and pains from his wounds could be seen seeping out from their origins and dampening the bandages in their crimson fluids. It was a disgusting state that he was in but he seemed rather content with what had happened just a couple of hours ago. He had finally gotten his initial push that he wished to acquire for Operation: Broken Wings. The hardest part was now over, it was time to move onto phase two. With those thoughts in mind, Kiritsu slowly closed his eyes and somewhere deep inside of himself, he started to sleep.

_[Unknown area, Unknown Place]_

"It's dark…" I heard myself say as I started to breath air into my lungs.

"It's cold…" I heard myself say again as I touched the ground that I thought was beneath my feet.

"It's damp…" I heard myself again as the water at my feet slowly touched my fingers.

"What is this place?" I asked aloud as I looked up at the vast nothingness.

"This… is you… and this is me." I heard someone say from another point in the void.

"You are here… and yet not here." It said, trying to play tricks with my mind. "I am also here… and yet I am not here." It continued as I heard it get closer.

"Who are you?" I said trying to ascertain what was going on. "Are you me?" I asked, as if I knew the answer already.

"You catch on fast… what does your mind tell you?" It replied.

"It tells me that this is… a place that I should know… but yet I don't seem familiar with it." I responded to its question. "However… it's also telling me… that you're me and that I'm you… but we're two separate entities." I clarified as a bright light started to emanate from the surface of the water.

"That is correct. I am you, you are me… we both reside here." He explained, coming into view completely upside down under the surface and across the way from where I stood.

His eyes were red, just like mine. His hair was white, just like mine. He had a cross pendant around his neck like me and he had the same face that was covered by the same skin complexion… in all reality, he truly looked like me but at the same time… he looked like he wasn't me… he was more evil, more complex, more sophisticated.

"I see you still have your doubts." He said as he started to walk towards me yet not since he was under the surface.

Like a mirror, I started to walk towards him at the exact same time with the exact same stepping. We stepped closer and closer until we were but inches from each other… and as he slowly extended his finger out to touch me where my forehead should have been, I felt a cold embrace poke my forehead as if he was right there.

"Let me show you something… so that way you see what I am trying to create for you." The alter me said before everything around me went white.

Everything had changed to the polar opposite now… there was no dark, there was only light. I could see the pictures slowly start to formulate in my brain as if my brain were a storage device and someone had started to input the data into it. It started to flood me like a long lost dream that had now fully shown itself, except this time… I was actually reliving it and seeing it as if I were a 3rd party spectator.

Looking down at the sight in front of me, I could see a park… it was a dark night with the street lamps lighting up the area like little fireflies in the dark. It was there that the scene I dreaded most unfolded itself in front of me.

_[Flashback, Los Angeles Park Plaza]_

"Hold them off while I take care of the targets." The Blood King said before dashing forward and striking through the bodyguards as if they were just bowling pins.

Jumping up and over the two leaders, The Blood King avoided two kicks in the air and landed behind them both before revving up his AT's as fast as he could. The dirt kicking up from the insane amount of friction and pressure had slowly started to make dust clouds that obscured those behind him from view. Extending both of his arms out slightly, he clenched his fists, making his forearms start to pulsate with power before punching out and impacting one of the leaders but not the other since he dodged forward.

'Tch… I missed.' The Blood King thought to himself as the leader who was struck fell to the ground, completely limp from the impact to his back.

Looking down at his arms, The Blood King noted that both of his forearms were now completely covered in his own blood. It was something to expect but he wasn't sure if he could use his technique again.

"Hrm… too much power…?" He questioned himself as the other leader had finally recovered from his last second dodge that might've just saved his life.

"W-What the hell did you do?!" The leader of The Runners said as he looked down at his counterpart.

"I hyper activated my cells in my blood and with that outburst of energy I transferred it directly into his system and directed it to his legs. He won't be able to use his legs anymore to wield AT's." The Blood King said with a sadistic look upon his face. He wasn't grinning and he certainly wasn't sad… it was just that over looming doom look that you'd see on someone's face when they did something irrevocable. What he had just done… was something that couldn't be described as just cruel… it was malicious, vindictive and almost even spiteful.

"H-How could you…?" The leader of The Runners asked the cruel man in front of him.

"And would you have done anything different? The man can still live his life just like any other… the fights and the breakouts between your two clans would've escalated, even outright destroyed the entire city if things kept going as they were. Your talks were nothing more than a cushion of an atomic bomb that was sooner or later going to go off." The Blood King said as he pointed to the group of Slashers that were now in a rampage at the loss of their leader.

"Look. This is what happens when the slightest bit of change impacts an entire group. These are the things I am trying to eliminate. By getting rid of the problem and starting anew, I will change everything and when I mean everything…" The Blood King explained as he quickly appeared behind his opponent with the same amount of energy that was pulsating in his arms like before. "…I mean all of the evil this world has had to deal with since AT's had been created." He finished before implanting his fist into the back of the leader of The Runners and sending him flying into a tree.

Blood could be seen spewing from the man's legs. He was screaming in pain for only a few seconds before impacting against the tree, knocking him out. It must've been the most gruesome two seconds of his life, knowing that he no longer had the ability to ride anymore.

The Blood King didn't come out unscathed though, using the technique a second time completely made his arms go numb from pain. The blood spewing forth from his forearms completely drenched his arms in crimson. The agonizing pain was so unbearable that he couldn't even scream out from it. He stood there for a few seconds before looking at the two groups of the leaderless clans. They were in complete disarray. Both of their leaders, strong from their proven skill and history of battles that they had shown to them, now lay down on the ground in a pool of their own blood.

"YOU BASTARD!" Carlos yelled out in disgust as he disengaged from his fight with Sora and immediately went after the wounded man. "DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He roared out, activating his AT's to make a third wheel fall into the scheme of his contraption. The wheels ignited into a fiery inferno of orange and red. The pain of his sorrow imbuing the flame with such intensity that the person who would be directed at with this attack wouldn't come out just singed…

"Even without my arms…" The Blood King started before revving up his AT's. He immediately stomped the ground and a good portion of his blood that was on his arms dripped onto the AT's making them glow in red letters the word 'MURAMASA'. "…I can still do this." He muttered to himself as he sent out a cross fang of red and black.

Impacting with each other, Carlos yelled out with all of his might and tried to keep his momentum up as he slowly, but surely, moved himself up and over the Fang and came down upon the Blood King with an axe kick.

*THWACK!*

The blow impacted. It was a hollow yet deafening blow to the head the staggered Kiritsu so much that he went to one knee and slowly he started to lose his consciousness.

"AGAIN!" Carlos yelled out again, bringing his leg up and beginning his strike towards the downed man.

Time immediately froze there. It wasn't a technique from the Flame Road or some sort of sorcery, it was just pure adrenaline enhancing his senses to such a fine degree that time seemed to slow down just enough that he ducked below the kick, brought himself up on one leg, twisted himself around so he could grab a hold of Carlos' leg and pull him so he would land flat on his back while in a leg lock. With his AT planted firmly on Carlos' neck, The Blood King stood there and stared.

"You…" the man said in a dark tone. "…You have heart." He said before knocking Carlos in the side of his skull making him go unconscious.

Looking over at Sora, he realized that his partner had finished up his opponent and he was dangling from a tree branch waiting for him to finish. As he walked on up to him, the man smiled his devilish smile while swinging upside down.

"Had fun?" Sora asked as he looked at the man's arms to realize he was losing a lot of blood. "Wow… I'd say you've lost a good two pints… maybe even three." Sora commented as he slid himself off the branch, landing gracefully on the ground.

"It… was more than I expected… I hoped to take them both out in one go but the other one was a little too fast the first time." Kiritsu said as he looked over at Carlos' unconscious body. "…And that one gave me more trouble than I thought he would." He finished as he started to roll himself further into the courtyard where both teams stared him down as if they were ready to chomp his face off.

"I'll let you know this now… those four members were the best you had to offer and they were easily taken out with just me and my partner here… If you still think you stand a chance, you can take a shot but realize the situation around you." The Blood King said as he pointed up towards the six light poles that were situated in a circle around the park.

On each of the poles, each member of his team were stationed, balancing themselves with cameras that were streaming live to the web. The Blood King wanted this to be known to all who were watching that his plan was now in motion. It was time to enter phase two.

"Phase two of Operation: Blood Wings starts now. For any of you who wish to be a part of this great revolution, I ask that you follow my orders and do what I tell you to do. If you refuse, you shall end up just like your four members over there… if you accept; I will personally guarantee your safety, your family's safety and any of your friends who would be willing to support me. I am here for one purpose and one purpose only… to destroy this world and create it anew." He finished before skating forward and jumping on top of the fountain that was in the dead center of the park.

"This is going to happen with or without you. Know that this is your only warning… be sure to heed it carefully, lest you be swept up into the chaos like twigs in the maelstrom." He finished before vanishing into the night.

_[End Flashback]_

"H-How… how could you do this?" I asked the man known now to me as The Blood King.

"How could I do this? Don't you mean how could we?" he replied.

"No. That's not true. You're not me." I responded.

"Deny it all you want, you know in your heart that I am you, and you are me."

"That's a lie."

"It's not."

"It's a lie!"

"No it's-" I interrupted him.

"IT'S A FUCKING LIE! I refuse to believe this!" I shouted at the effigy in front of me, trying to force him out of my mind.

"If you continue to fight against this, it's only going to make it worse. I am you, you are me. It's just that simple. Sure, I may be something that you don't want to admit to but the underlying fact remains: I. Am. You." The man explained as if he were the ruler of this universe.

"That makes no sense… how could I have lived through my life thus far and not know about you?!" I rejected back at him, trying to figure this whole mess out.

"But you've always known about me." He retorted as he moved over to me and put a finger to my head. "I've always been… right here." He said poking my forehead. He then grabbed the front part of my skull, pulled it forward and as if I were in a sci-fi movie, all of my memories within the past year started to flood out and display all around me.

"Ever since you were 10 years old and received your first pair of skates, I have been there in your head. You quickly mastered the art of skating and soon when you were 13 years old you got your first pair of AT's." He explained as he showed the pictures of my childhood.

"Things went well for us… we were one of the strongest riders out there with not a care in the world. We were quickly adored by other riders and soon we entered the Parts War with our good friend Hiyu who also got better with us. We quickly dominated the teams, reached A class and challenged the first kings. When we defeated them, we were only 15 years old." He explained these foreign memories to me.

"However… that's where things went wrong. After becoming known as The Blood King and The Light King, we were quickly challenged over and over again for our titles. You… me… and Hiyu… we both took out all competition and reigned at the top of the tower just as we always dreamed it to be. And then, Sora came." He went on.

"Sora was a fiery devil that was loved by the wind. He showed us what it meant to fly and what it meant to be a storm rider…" I interrupted him again.

"Don't say his name anymore! I refuse to believe this!" I yelled at him, punching him straight in the jaw making him disintegrate into the nothingness.

It went silent again after that. I couldn't see anything anymore but there was one picture remaining displayed upon the walls of my imagination. It was Hiyu and I… we were at each other's throats. My eyes… they were full of hatred and rage. They were full of malice and it was all being directed at my best friend… why was this happening? What happened between us that would've caused all of this to happen?

Voices started to come into hearing again… it seemed all too familiar to me. It was almost as if I had heard this before but at some point in my past time that was locked away in a chest in the confines of my mind.

"I have to ask you something…" One of the voices in my mind said as it started to come into vision. There were two lone riders, one on top of a platform while the other was standing on the ground. One was in pure white, the other pitch black.

"You probably already know what I am going to ask and I already know the answer, but I still need to hear it from your mouth." He continued as he stared at the other person's eyes.

"Then ask away, I already know what you're trying to get at and it's just a waste of time to being with." The other replied as he stood there on the higher ground as if looking down at a lower primate.

"Why?" He asked plainly with a slight hint of pain in his voice. "Why did you do this? We could have had it all, you and I." He asked as he started to break down. "Why did you betray me when I needed you? Why did you betray me Hiyu?!" The man yelled at the one named Hiyu.

"You wanted to destroy the tower. I should be asking you the same question. Why did you betray our trust? Why did you betray everything that we have stood for until now?!" The man retorted back in the same anger. "You can't beat the system and think you can remake it. It doesn't happen that way Kiritsu!"

"I refuse to believe that! Anyone should be allowed to fly. This system, this 'tower' doesn't allow those to fly freely! I'm going to remake it, if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to change the way we fly!"

"Then you leave me no choice…" The white entity said as he peered down at the man. "Prepare to face pain the likes of which you've never seen Blood King." Hiyu said before leaping down, charging up a powerful fang.

In reaction, the black robed entity leaped up towards the light and charged up his own fang before lashing out with a loud roar.

"Horaiji!" He roared out with a black fang.

"Kaizer!" He yelled with the same intensity, sending out a fang of white.

As the two collided, I was sent back with a tremendous force and crashed against the floor. My vision was fading as I tried to recover from the blast but it was to no avail.

Crouching down, I held my head trying to gather my thoughts. Everything started to get blurry again. All of my memories started to flood out of my mind as if they were being sucked out. Before I realized it, I lost consciousness again.

[Apartment room, Los Angeles]

Waking up as if being shot in the stomach, The Blood King rose from in slumber with a yell as if he had seen a ghost. He broke out in a cold sweat it and stared down at his hands as if he was wondering if he were still in control of his own body. His breathing was ragged, his heart was racing and his arms were soaked in blood as the wounds started to reopen again. He quickly got up from the bed, walked to the bathroom and stared into the window before washing his face with cold water.

He was still breathing heavily, looking at himself in the mirror like a beast with too much adrenaline. With an exertion that needed to be pulled out, he punched the window with all his might and shattered it in front of him.

"It's still not enough…" He muttered to himself as he shakily went back to his bed and laid down to calm himself. "It's still… not enough…" He muttered again before closing his eyes to try and rest.


	4. Continually Shifting Gears

_Plans of devastation, plans for opposing, voices in the dark that can't be explained… too many gears are shifting in a world full of strife. Will the righteous outweigh the chaos? Will the puppeteer show his true intentions? Too much fog cloaks this tragedy in mystery. Only time will tell when the fated day finally arrives._

[Large Yacht, Sea of Japan]

Following the words of Miyuri, Kogarasumaru and the Shinsengumi set out on a suicide mission to gain allies from China, Russia and any Asian nations that might join in their cause to fight The Blood King and his band of rabbles as he creates chaos around the world. Their plan? Well, that's the thing… there is no plan.

"Ugh I knew this was a bad idea…" Daisuke complained as he threw up over the side of the boat. "…I-If we wanted to get to China… wouldn't it have been faster to take a fl-" he interrupted himself as he once again threw up over the side of the boat. "…F-Flight?!"

Crouching next to him in the same fetal position, hurling his lunch out of his stomach just like Daisuke, Arashi was in the same predicament.

"Ugh… I agree…" Arashi seconded that man's gesture as he too threw up over the side of the boat. "…I-I never knew… that I would be this violently ill on a swaying boat…" He muttered before losing even more of his lunch to the briny deep.

"Oh come on you two, it isn't that bad. Besides, the ocean is so grand and beautiful!" Miyuri said as she outstretched her arms.

As the two gentlemen looked back at her with disgust, they both immediately went back to hurling up whatever was left in their stomachs into the ocean and stared down at the murky water that they had been the cause of.

"…Well, now that I think of it if you keep that up the ocean's gonna be polluted by your bowels." Miyuri cringed as the two men once again repeated the gesture that was their inevitable doom for the rest of the ride.

Turning to the noise that Miyuri heard from behind her, her view came upon Kisaragi who finally go up from his bed. After a long rest, Kisaragi had decided to get a breath of fresh air since he hadn't seen the sun in over 12 hours. It seemed that instead of getting boat-sick he was just tired most of the time. The trip was going to be a good three days before they reached China and for the most part, he was always in his room sleeping away the hours.

"Good afternoon sleep head." Miyuri called over to the drowsy man as he stumbled over from the lack of blood flow to his legs.

With a long yawn, accompanied by what could be misinterpreted as whales off the coast, Kisaragi stretched his limbs and popped a couple of joints before finally addressing the voluptuous woman in the bikini.

"Why are you in a bathing suit? It's not like you're going to go into those waters to swim, especially with thing #1 and thing #2 throwing up in it every five seconds. Kisaragi motioned over to the two shadows of men who still were trying to get over their boat sickness.

"Meh, it's not every day that you get to just wear a bikini and it's not like you mind the sight either right?" Miyuri gestured as she struck a pose that would probably send most men head over heels.

As Kisaragi looked over at her, he just shrugged it off as if it were nothing and moved on over to the reclining chairs that were placed in the sun. He laid down upon one and started to drift off to sleep again before getting smacked in the head by the one he just insulted by not paying attention to.

"H-Hey what the hell was that for?!" Kisaragi reacted by jolting up and putting on a glare that could freeze a person in their tracks.

"That was for insulting my beauty, asshole." Miyuri bit back as if she was truly hurt that he wasn't appealed by her appearance.

"W-What?! Since when did I insult you for your looks?!" the blue-haired ball of anger said… or really, more like yelled at an unreasonable tone.

"Just now! You didn't even look twice at me!" She complained.

"I'm not interested in you! You scare the shit out of me on a daily basis!" He retorted with a valid argument.

"N-Not interested?! How could you not be! I mean look at me, I'm at least a 9 on a scale from 1 to 10!" She complained as she caught what she was saying just a little too late. "I-I mean… what I mean is…" She stumbled slightly before turning beet red. "Just go die damnit!" she yelled before punching him square in the jaw.

Getting sent across the deck of the boat like a ball in a badminton competition, Kisaragi was in shock at how hard of a punch he just took to the jaw. It was so shocking to him in fact that it took him a good two seconds in flight before passing out from the concussion administered to his head from the blow.

Toppling and flopping across the deck like a rag doll, the forward momentum that he accumulated from his airborne trip quickly sent him to the far side of the deck until finally reaching the life line rope that was in place to keep people on the boat. He of course, like any comedic yet slightly gruesome scene, quickly leapt up and over it like any scene would imply and went over the side into the water making a large splashing noise that couldn't be seen from where everyone was.

There was a long silence before the situation before them took a hold of their brains.

"U-Uh… Kisaragi…?" Miyuri questioned the void of where the person had been. "I-Is he going to be alright?" She asked Kazu who happened to be sitting on the reclining chairs watching the whole situation transpire.

"…You just sent him over the side of the boat… and from what I saw, it looked like he was unconscious." Kazu commented. "What do you think?" He asked rhetorically as he ran over to the side where Kisaragi vanished to see if he was okay.

Looking down, Kazu spotted Kisaragi on what he thought looked like to be some sort of white netting that was used for fishing. Apparently one of the crew members was trying to use them to catch fish but with no avail and forgot to put it away. Sighing to himself and praying to the gods that they were lucky, Kazu pulled on the line and hoisted Kisaragi up onto the deck with the net entangled over him.

"Uuuugh… my head…" Kisaragi moaned in a dull tone as if he were just waking up. "Why does it hurt so much…?" He asked himself as he passed out once again.

Looking up at Miyuri, Kazu had a gloomy look on his face. "Did you really have to do that?" He asked as he picked up by the netting and started to drag him to his room.

"H-He deserved it." Miyuri said glancing to the side so as to try and not feel as guilty. "Oh, Kazu, where's Ikki?" Miyuri asked as she saw him start to walk down into the bowels of the ship.

"He's training down in the recreational area. It's the only place he's been in the past couple of days." He replied as he ducked down below out of sight.

'Hmm… what could he be doing?' Miyuri thought as she started to head down to where Ikki was.

* * *

[Recreational Room, Large Yacht]

From what could be heard a good 30 feet away from the entrance of the recreational room, it seemed that someone was either cranking up the AC and turning it down again like a dumbass or someone was training with their AT's in a space that really wasn't meant for it. As I'm guessing that you've already deduced what it is by now, it's the latter of the two.

Training his heart out as if it were his life and purpose to do so, Ikki was riding around in the large recreational room. The hard wood floors were covered in black AT skid marks. The walls were decked out with dots and lines of black where the AT's impacted and skidded across them. The air was humid with the smell of sweat and man as Ikki was exhausting himself trying to get better at whatever it was that he focused literally 16 hours at a time down in the same area.

As Miyuri entered the room, she couldn't help but step back for a bit and readjust herself as she was bombarded by the smells that penetrated her senses as she entered into the training zone that Ikki had established.

In the middle of the room, Ikki could be seen with his shirt off exposing his top torso completely drenched in sweat. His breathing was ragged and his arms dropped down to his sides as if they had no strength. His lungs were in overdrive. His heart looked like it was about to burst out of his chest and his legs were shaking from the lack of rest they were receiving for the entire time he was down here.

"Haa… Haa…" Ikki started to control his breathing by voicing out his circulation as he slowly retracted himself back up into a fully standing position. "One more time…" He muttered to himself.

Bringing his arms in and bending them so they were at a 90 degree angle, Ikki took the chance to close his eyes and begin again what he had done over and over again. His breathing started to get shallower. It was becoming more rapid and before Miyuri could ask what he was doing, his AT's started to rev again and he clenched his muscles in his legs and his arms at the same time.

Now, normally when a rider is in the position that Ikki assumed, the rider usually goes forward to do a trick since that's how the motors in AT's work. This isn't so however since Ikki wasn't moving when he assumed this stance and started to rev up his AT's. There was a distinct stopping force that was keeping him in place and it was just building up energy as he continued to do so.

As soon as Miyuri tried once again to ask what he was doing, Ikki completely vanished from view as he opened his eyes up to begin his move that he was practicing. It wasn't that he was in a different area that Miyuri couldn't see since the room didn't permit that… it was that he was moving so fast that her eyes couldn't pinpoint his location nor could she see an after image of him. It was rather frightening to see since an experienced rider such as herself couldn't keep track of him.

In the room, Ikki was moving around the entire area in a circular motion. The only reason she could tell this was the skid marks on the ground wouldn't lie on the motion on which they were being made. Popping noises soon started to come into hearing range as gusts of wind were being concentrated into the center of the room which Miyuri deduced to be Ikki's target. It was rather strange to see this happening since one would have to slow down to administer a fang in that area but these weren't fangs. They were like pulses of wind and energy that were being exerted somehow and he was controlling it to the point that it would attack the area and disperse so as not to damage the deck or walls since it had nothing to stop it's inertia.

"W-Wow…" Miyuri commented to herself as she saw this spectacle play out in front of her eyes.

As the trick continued on for another five seconds, something went wrong with the flow. As soon as this disturbance took place, Ikki went into Miyuri's vision capability again and was sent tumbling across the ground uncontrollably into the wall. His AT's were steaming and his body was pulsating from how much energy and momentum was coursing through them at that point and time. Walking up to the shambled mass of sweat and exhaustion, Miyuri knelt down so she was at eye level with the spiky-haired daredevil.

"Having fun inventing a new trick I see." Miyuri commented.

"Hehe… Y-Yeah… but it's still not done yet." He replied as he tried to pull himself off from the wall and flopped directly onto the ground as he lost his traction. "It's still… not enough." He said as he tried his best to get up again. It was to no avail though as he quickly slid on his own sweat and landed back on the deck with his chest. "O-Ow…" he muttered as he tried once again.

"Why are you trying to do this?" Miyuri asked as she watched from the side as the boy tried and failed once again to get up.

"I… I got to get… s-stronger." He gritted out from his teeth as he finally pulled his leg in to get a firm foothold to get up. "And if that bastard Kiritsu can do it… so can I." He added as he stayed in that crouched position on all fours, looking down at the ground sweating from his brow.

"Wait what do you mean, 'if he can do it so can I'?" Miyuri asked, trying to ascertain what he was getting at.

"Remember the video…?" Ikki asked as he too recalled the recording that was shown on Daisuke's computer. "That move that completely crippled two A-class maybe even King-class riders in less than a second." He finished his thought as he finally pushed himself up into a two-legged kneeling position.

Recalling the video and the scene that Ikki depicted, Miyuri remembered exactly what happened to the two riders. Their blood vessels in their legs were targeted and destroyed, making them unable to ride anymore because of the shock damage to them. She was wondering why Kiritsu had done this but it didn't really much matter since he wasn't the same person anymore.

"I-I saw it…" Ikki interrupted her thoughts to bring her back to reality. "I saw how he did it…" He said as he put one leg up and began to breathe heavily again. "That move requires a great deal of energy as well as control… If I can manage to bring up my control of that much energy… and find a way to transfer like he did, I can mimic the move in my own way." Ikki said as he forced himself up to stand.

Shocked at his vigor, Miyuri looked upon the spiky-haired prodigy with a newfound respect. She never knew that someone could have seen the workings of a technique so specifically even if only shown it twice. She had thought of using the technique herself but she knew that it would cost her too much energy as well as too much damage for it to be useful… still though this kid, this storm rider, was actually foolish and gutsy enough to at least try it.

"And? Do you think you can do it?" Miyuri asked, questioning his resolve.

"I don't think… I just do." He retorted as he tried to take a step forward and toppled over himself. "B-But… I think I'm going to need to rest before doing this again…" He groaned as he was once again back at square 1.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it. Just don't die while I'm not around to help you alright?" She cautioned him as she walked out of the room. 'Still… I need to become stronger as well…' She thought to herself as she went back topside to see if the two seasick fellows were done with their daily ritual.

As it turns out, once you have nothing left in your stomach and you still feel seasick, you'll just start dry heaving until passing out from lack of oxygen in your lungs. This useless fact played an important role this day as both Adachi and Daisuke were both completely knocked out and sprawled out on the floor from lack of oxygen. Looking at the two with a depressed yet slightly giggling face, Miyuri walked past them and went straight to the bow of the ship where she stood there looking at the sun as it was setting behind the clouds in the distance.

"What are you doing Kiritsu…?" Miyuri mumbled to herself as she stood there for a long time staring at the sun until it set completely behind the cloud cover. 'I… I have to get stronger…' She thought to herself again as she decided to go to bed to wrap up the day.

* * *

[Northern Harbor, San Diego]

Setting off the boat and immediately taking off into the night, a golden-eyed daredevil raced after his friend. His movements were quick. His resolve was unbreakable. His heart was in pieces but his goal was all the same. He knew what he had to do but he didn't want to do it with the help of others. He needed to do this alone and it was his own burden to bear as he rode down the streets in his AT's trying to look for his once close friend.

As Hiyu jumped up on top of a lower complex and started to ascend a large complex of hotels that overlooked the city of San Diego, Hiyu couldn't help but notice that things didn't seem right here. There were no riders about; no people were out enjoying themselves this night in a city as renowned as San Diego. There were no parties being held, nothing was going on. It was as if he had left the boat and entered a ghost town with so few people that you would probably go through the entire city not meeting a single soul.

As he reached the top of one of the highest building in the entire city, he looked out and found nothing. The lights were on but nobody was home. It was very unsettling for him since he had heard stories about the great city but had never been since he didn't have proper funds or time to do this type of trip. This time however, it was a major exception for obvious reasons.

"Where is everybody?" He said aloud to himself as if he was expecting an answer from someone nearby.

Jumping down off from the building and going into a free fall, Hiyu quickly changed his position and rocketed off from the side of the windows of the large building and started to grind wall to wall down the city streets until reaching the central plaza of the city. It was there that he encountered where everyone had met up. It seemed that they were all discussing something important since it was a large group of over 200 people at least.

Grinding down the walls and jumping onto the light posts till he landed softly on the ground near the entire group, Hiyu strolled over to the large crowd to see what they were talking about. As he got closer and closer more voices could be heard but nothing distinct could be made out.

"Hey there he is! Or at least, that should be him right?!" One of the riders said pointing at him as if he were their target.

"Gold eyes, skinny build… white AT's with a yellow trim… yea that's him alright!" Another said, giving a decent description of Hiyu.

"W-Wait a second what?" Hiyu replied as ten riders circled him immediately.

"Yes or no, is your name Hiyu Horaiji?" Another rider asked as they all started to close the circle.

"Yeah, I'm Horaiji… what's it to you?" He replied in a serious tone that started to show that he was getting agitated.

"On The Blood King's orders, we're here to give you a welcoming party…" The man continued as they all started to rev up their AT's, creating a large gust of wind to circulate around Hiyu.

"We are the Windborn, we're here to stop you." The man said finally before jolting out from his position to strike at Hiyu from behind.

Reacting to the presence of the rider, Hiyu quickly dodged to the left but didn't move his legs as the man was directly aiming for the upper section of his body. As the man landed in front of him and began to swing around to kick him in the face, Hiyu took hold of his leg and stared at him in the eyes before bringing his knee up and impacting him straight in the nose, making him keel over with blood pouring out from his face.

He didn't stop there though. He quickly picked the man up by his leg and swung him around, impacting another two riders who tried to attack him in the back again, making them all topple over to the side and into two other riders who tried to catch them. Taking up a defensive stance and revving up his AT's, raring to go, Hiyu stared down at his next 195 opponents.

"I'll give each and every one of you one warning… this is it." He said before striking the ground with the heels of his AT's, sending out sparks of yellow and red as they started to increase in energy. "Either you tell me where he is and where he's going… or I'm going to rip each and every one of you apart till one of you tells me where he is and where he's going." He said before stopping completely, waiting in that same stance for someone to either strike or tell him his answer.

"Tch, like we'd tell you anything!" One of the riders from the Windborn said before sprinting at him full force.

Giving a deep sigh at the violence that was about ensue, Hiyu looked up at the moon and noticed it start to shine out from behind the clouds where it was once hiding.

"Such a beautiful night…" He said before spinning around and extending his leg out so his AT's impacted the man in the chest, stopping him completely. "…A beautiful night to get my blood going." He finished his sentence before exerting a small amount of energy to send him flying back towards the crowd, piercing through them like they were just leaves in the wind.

Retracting back to his spot and revving up his AT's again, Hiyu took one last look back at the moon and quickly reverted his attention back to the group. "C'mon. There's over 200 of you and one of me. You'd best make me enjoy this." He goaded them as they all started to converge on his position. With a sadistic smile and a knack for going a little overboard when it wasn't necessary, the legend of "The Golden Reaper" was born in the streets of San Diego.

* * *

[Apartment Complex, Los Angeles]

Still recovering from his fight with The Slashers and The Runners, The Blood King continued to lie down in his bed. His arms were now completely healed but he still wasn't at 100% and he needed to be before shipping off to his next location. It was his goal to make sure Operation: Broken Wings would continue without a hitch and he would need every drop of strength he could muster if this was to happen correctly. As he got up from his bed, a knock could be heard coming from the door.

"Come in." The red-eyed man said before Sora reluctantly opened the door. "What is it Sora? I don't have time to play with you." The man said irritably as the spiky-haired brat came in to bug him.

"What?~ but you promised!" He mocked him before sitting down in the chair across from the bed. "Actually in all seriousness, I came here to see how you were doing."

"What do you mean?" The Blood King retorted, trying to dodge the accusation.

"Look, It's not like these walls are that thick. I could hear you screaming at one point in the night for some reason and from what I wager, you aren't scared of the dark… or are you?" Sora asked as if he were legitimately asking a kid about his fears.

"No. I'm not afraid of the dark. Also, I wasn't screaming from a nightmare or anything that you think it might be… my wounds just reopened again." The Blood King stated, trying his best to dodge the questioning looks from The Sky King.

"Well, if you say so." Sora replied with a shrug. "Either way, I'd tell Zyra once she gets back from that mission you sent her on, especially since it has something to do with your body. She'd know best." He said before getting up.

"I know. You can go now." The Blood King replied, getting irritated at the constant bickering from the one person he didn't want to get consoled from.

As he started to walk out into the hallway again he looked back in to notice that The Blood King wasn't moving from his bed. This seemed a little odd to him since he was always the first one out and ready to go and Sora would always be the last one to get ready to move since he was so lazy. For some reason though, their roles were reversed this day.

"Before I go, know this…" Sora said before looking forward. "I'm not doing this because I actually care for your well-being… I'm doing this because if you fail this quest because your body breaks down, I'm going to be seriously pissed off that I left it in your hands and you fucked it up." He said before exiting.

"Tch. So annoying…" The Blood King grumbled to himself as he took out his phone. "However, due to his annoyance I remembered something…" He said to himself again as if he were talking to someone.

As he dialed the number in his phone and waited for the other person to pick up, The Blood King looked at his clock on the stand and noticed it was 2P.M. in the afternoon. It didn't seem like it was that late but he knew now that he was wasting time lying in bed for too long. As the person on the other end of the line picked up, The Blood King rose from the comfort of his bed and started to get dressed while placing the phone on speaker.

"Did you find it?" he asked the other person on the line.

"Yes. As you predicted, it's in the museum at the back end." The voice replied in a feminine tone.

"Well done. Thanks for all the help so far Zyra." The man replied as he was about to hang up.

"Oh? That's odd coming from you." She said over the line as he brought the phone to his ear again.

"I have something I need you to take care of when you get back here. Be sure to bring blueprints of the museum and we'll start getting things underway when you get back." The Blood King added as he hung up the phone.

'Things are going just as planned…' he thought before looking out at the coast to see the sun shining brightly down upon the ocean. 'Will you be ready when it finally hits you?' He thought to himself as he stared out at the deep blue sea.

**And there we go. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Sorry it isn't as long as the others but it's definitely a significant build-up from before! Training, plots, secrets and what's best: Character development! I love it so much! As I've stated time in and time again, I'm still accepting OC's and will continue to accept them for as long as I can as I start to bring this story around into what I want it to become. If you have any ideas that you would like me to try and implement then by all means give me a PM or put it in a review.**

**Without further ado I would like to give credit to the following people for providing teams and OC's. :D**

**Wings2Strong: Thanks for providing me Arashi, Carlos and The Runners/The Slashers. They've all played a major role in this fanfic and it's very much appreciated.**

**Destiny-Shadow-Walker: Thanks for submitting the OC Miyuri. As everyone has seen, she has played a big role in both stories thus far and she will continue to do so until it ends since I love her character so much. Hope I'm fulfilling her role properly since I'm not a girl and I really have no idea how a girl would react in situations such as these so… yea… _ **

**Mugen7: Thank you for submitting to me your OC. I promise to add him in for the next chapter so please be patient as it takes time to fully bring these characters to life properly. Sorry for the delayed wait. T_T**

**Airhead Fortis: Thank you for giving me the OC Daisuke. I know you probably weren't expecting him to become a techie but I always thought of him as such when he was first introduced to me. Hope you enjoyed that new twist, if not, well… I'm sorry? _ **

**And finally, Shadowssj12: I appreciate you giving me the OC Kage Yotsuki. He currently hasn't played much of a role since he wasn't able to do much against Sora but don't let that get you down! I promise to bring him to life as well as I continue this fanfiction so look forward to that!**

**If I forgot to add in anyone to the Credits, I apologize. I'm currently running on 4 hours of sleep and can't think cognitively so if I did forget about you I sincerely apologize. Please continue supporting me in this and thanks for keeping with me thus far. Hope to see you all soon. :D**


	5. The Tower

"_Be sure to get back here as soon as you can. Once you're here we can get things underway." The Blood King said before hanging up. As he stares out at the sea, a thought of friends that he once had enters his mind. He doesn't feel sorrow for what he has done but instead he asks a question to himself. "Will you be ready for it when it hits you?"_

* * *

[Large Yacht, Hong Kong Docking Station]

"LAAAAND!" Both Daisuke and Arashi yelled with delight as they stumbled off the boat and started to kiss the dusty pier. After living through what felt like hell to them, both seasick brothers-in-arms fell to the ground and thanks the gods on high that they were finally able to get off the rusty sea bucket.

"Y'know it really wasn't that bad." Miyuri commented as she too strolled off the boat and onto the pier, looking into the distance of the downtown metropolis that was known as Hong Kong. "Either way, we need to get going quickly. We don't have much time." Miyuri said in an urgent tone as if the world couldn't wait for a few moments.

"And where do you suppose we go while in this downtown maze of buildings?" Kazu asked as he, Buccha and Onigiri stepped off with their belongings on their backs.

"We need to go to the Shikigami Inn." Miyuri replied.

"What the hell? An Inn? They still have those in Hong Kong?" Kisaragi questioned the woman as he finally stepped off the boat. "And to boot it has to deal with death? How cliché… Can't we just find a normal place to stay and gather our bearings?" He further complained as he rubbed his jaw from the bruise that was forming from Miyuri's attack a few days ago.

"We have no time. And besides, we're not normal people… we're Storm Riders. I thought that was apparent that we're accustomed to the strange and weird." The black-eyed woman replied with a bite in her voice as if she was tired of all the questions.

"Good point…" Kisaragi noted to himself as if it just hit him that everything a Storm Rider was, was anything but normal. "But it still begs to question what we'll find at this 'Inn' considering half of this place is all city and tall skyscrapers." He commented to himself as he strolled further up the pier.

"Who says that it's going to be an actual inn?" Miyuri questioned as if she knew that was going to be asked next.

"Eh?" all of the guys said before seeing her strap on her AT's.

"I would highly suggest you get ready to ride. The area we're about to head to isn't exactly reachable by regular means." She commented as she got up and waited for the others to get ready.

Boy was she not kidding about that. It turns out that the area was situated in the upper complex of a back alley that had no lower floor entrance. The whole building was a large brick rectangle that loomed over the backwater area like a sniper spot in a church tower. It was the perfect place to have a safe haven as well as create a hub for all storm riders to gather. Especially since police couldn't get to it easily because it was so high up that they couldn't reach it from the ground by normal means. This area was called "The Tower". Not very creative, sure, but it got the point across that this was the place to be if you wanted to know what was going on in Hong Kong on the AT side of the city.

However, that didn't stop the police from coming up with their own way of combating the mayhem that ensued within Hong Kong. Apparently there was a police force that labeled themselves as the HKAT squad, HK meaning Hong Kong and AT meaning Air Trek, which would patrol the city at night and would interrupt any Parts Wars conflict that took place on unofficial terms.

The team consisted of previous storm riders who retired from the art of riding and went legit into the police force. They knew what it was like on the streets before. They had the contacts, they knew the ins and outs of almost every major area and they knew the roads that riders would take to flee from regular police. All n' all, they were a rather elite force that was praised by the police department for their agility, cunning and determination to deliver.

* * *

["The Tower", Hong Kong]

"So, this is the place then?" Ikki asked the woman who led the group here as if it were mama goose and her yellow ducklings.

"Yep. Do you see what I mean now when it was impossible to reach by normal means?" Miyuri asked as she stared at the 70 feet of pure brick walls before the first window appeared.

"Yeah… I see what you mean." Ikki replied back as he got a feel for the surroundings and tried to think of a way up.

As it turned out, it was a rather good set-up. In between "The Tower" and the closest building that was located 40 feet away from it, it looked like the only way you could get in would be to either wall-ride it up the entire 70 feet, which was no easy task, or you could go from the closest building and jump up 40-50 feet and hope to land on that same lower landing. It made the group a little nervous since jumps like that with no support usually meant a gruesome landing. It could be done, that for one is sure, but it wasn't going to be a cake-walk either.

"S-So… how do you suggest we do this?" Arashi asked, trying to think of a way to get up that high without having to rely on any support in the area.

"Well we could-" Daisuke started before getting cut off by a loud revving sound of several AT's coming up from behind them.

"If you don't know how to get up, just move!" One of the riders said, pushing past the group and started to make his way up "The Tower" by grinding up the wall, heading towards the far left hand side of it.

As he was about to lose all forward momentum, which surely would've led to him falling off and perpetually falling to his death, he took out what looked like to be a hooked bar which he latched into the brick concrete that was situated on the corner where the wall ended and the other began. He then pushed himself over, slammed himself into the side of the wall to gain his forward momentum again and reached the top of the wall before landing on the first floor of "The Tower".

The rider following right behind him did roughly the same thing, except before losing almost all of her momentum; she rocketed off the side of the wall, took out a whip and latched it into one of the bindings where the window was broken open. Using it as a rope, she glided herself along the wall and brought herself up to the window.

"Tch. Little birdies need toys in order to fly. How pathetic." Agito spat out of his mouth in disgust as he took off and sprinted the entire 70 feet before using his hooks at the end to grab a foothold on the first floor.

"H-Hey no fair! You got those hook things to help you out Agito!" Kazu yelled at him, making Agito's point about needing 'toys to fly' a hypocritical statement.

"Tch, like I give a damn what you think." The eye-patched kid replied before strolling into the complex with a sadistic glare.

As Agito soon left eye-sight, Buccha noted this as his cue to initiate his stroll up the side of the wall but, just like he showed the team when they first fought, he immediately went into his signature move.

"**Spinning Wallride Overbank 1800°!"** Buccha roared out as he extended both of his arms out and spun himself around as he streaked up the wall as if it were the ground. As he got to the top of the wall, he broke off his technique and latched his hand onto the edge of the floor before pulling himself up and strolling on in.

"GAAAH BUCCHA TOO!?" Kazu yelled out in disgust due to his lack of confidence in himself.

"Oh c'mon… it's not that hard. You just need enough forward momentum and speed to climb 70 feet. That's it." Miyuri commented before picking up enough speed and velocity to glide up the wall with what seemed to be no effort. "C'MON YOU CAN DO IT!" Miyuri called down to below as Kazu could only stare in awe at how fast she got up.

'W-what the hell is she…?' the silver-haired boy said to himself as he took up a position he thought he would never have the chance to use again.

The boy slowly went down to one knee and thought to himself of what he needed to do to get up this wall. He wasn't about to be ousted by Buccha and certainly not Agito but that wasn't what got the fire in his eyes to ignite. It seemed that something clicked in his mind when he finally started to rev up his AT's. Something changed within him that made him who he was in that moment.

"I… I know I've only seen it once but… fuck it if they can have a road to their own, then I will too." He muttered to himself as he took off in a crouching position, picking up both speed and friction within his AT's. As he reached the wall, he transferred all of his speed into power and rocketed up onto the wall, roughly 30 feet from where he was before. As he was about to slow down, he landed against the wall and pushed forward to reach even higher.

'C'mon only another 15 feet…' he thought to himself as he neared the finish line. It was there that something went wrong.

When you've been riding for as long as Kazu and the rest of the gang have, a storm rider of that level can tell when something goes wrong in the way that they ride. For Kazu, it was that quick intuition of his that made him realize that he didn't have enough momentum to reach the top. It was also that quick intuition that screamed out at him to change up his riding which triggered what was about to happen.

"NOW!" He yelled out to whoever could hear as he brought one of his legs in, bringing it into a crane position just inches from his chest before slamming it down to initiate his technique.

It was a rather simple technique that he had seen. Ever since Spitfire made his appearance back at the school house, Kazu had looked at how he rode on his AT's and figured out, if only slightly, how to tap into The Flame Road. It wasn't much, but it was just enough for him to initiate his path down this fiery road of destruction.

"Flame Road!" The fiery-eyed kid roared out as he brought his leg down and spun himself around to get enough momentum to reach the top, leaving a trail of fire in his last wake of 15 feet.

Looking back at the man who roared out what she didn't exactly expect to hear, Miyuri looked at Kazu and could see the flames jetting out from his AT's. It wasn't that long since they soon dispersed from lack of friction but she knew what had happened. She knew what he was capable of now and she was rather impressed that he was able to do so.

'Huh… looks like you were right Spitfire… you might have yourself a King in the making.' She thought to herself as she strolled up to the window to see Daisuke, Arashi and Onigiri all trying to come up with a way to get up without having to do an insane amount of work to do it.

"Onigiri…" Miyuri called out in a… well let's just say a 'luring' tone. "Won't you please come up here? I'm scared all by myself." She said before rolling back out of sight.

"You know, that's not going to end well." Kazu commented.

"Well yes but can you think of any other way to get him up here without triggering his lustful side for female flesh?" She asked him back as if she knew exactly what she was doing… actually she probably did.

He was silent for a moment. It wasn't that he didn't have a comeback for what she said, it was just that she was correct. In no time at all for when she stepped back and started to talk, to where he was about to come back with a rebuttal, Onigiri magically appeared as if out of thin air covered in sweat.

"M-Miyuri… I am here to keep you safe…" Onigiri said with a low triumphant voice as if he were heeding the call of his one and only goddess in the entire world by taking a knee.

'Geez… she's got him around her finger like a leech with a sweet tooth.' Kazu thought to himself as he peered down to see the final four members looking up to see how to get up… correction, three members. Kisaragi finally got tired of waiting on everyone and used his Ice Road techniques to wall-ride up until jumping off and solidifying the air around his AT's just enough to use it as a platform and jump off.

Landing gracefully and strolling past Kazu, the white flakes of snow trickled in his wake, chilling the new Flame-Road user to the heart of his soul.

'Looks like I still have a ways to go huh?' Kazu thought to himself as he looked back at the stride of the icy storm rider.

"Okay, we're the last three… we gotta get up this tower, are you with me?!" Ikki roared as he started to head towards the other building 40 feet away to try and jump across.

'H-How is he so motivating when we're literally the last ones left?!' Arashi and Daisuke thought together as they followed in tow.

Looking out at "The Tower" from where they were at, all three storm riders looked at one another before revving up their AT's. It was a good 40 foot jump with an extra 30 feet to jump higher before reaching the window. It was going to be a large leap but they knew if someone like Onigiri could get up there, they could do it.

Staring across the open space with a fire in their eyes, all three of them at the same time rocketed out from their places, leaving black skid marks in their trails. The wind around them whip lashed and the speed they were going at could've rivaled a King-class rider. They were dead set on making this jump even if it meant they would end up mortally wounded.

As they rode along the concrete roof and reached the edge of the roof, all of them bounced off the corner where the wall met the top of the roof and pushed off as hard as they could, soaring through the sky as if it were a re-animation of E.T. Taking in the sights below them, they all noticed near the end of their projected path that they had gone too far and were heading into the wall ABOVE the window. Realizing this too late, they all smashed against the wall, making a crater of their imprints.

As they started to peel off, one after another, they all grabbed the ledge of the window and hoisted themselves up, heaving and groaning at the injury they had inflicted on themselves. They were lucky to have had good reflexes to grab the ledge or it would've been a long fall down. It wasn't long though when they were all up again, ready for what was lying in wait for them within the confines of "The Tower".

* * *

[Northern Harbor, San Diego]

"Gah!" one of the riders groaned in pain as he was struck in the face by a pair of white AT's with a gold trim.

The fight had gone on through the night. It was a grueling battle that was heavily winning in Hiyu's favor. Then again, it was to be expected. Even if a thousand ants went up against a giant, the giant wouldn't notice them at all even when squishing them beneath his massive feet.

"H-How can we be losing?! We have 200 people! This makes no-" he was cut off when a flying body smacked him in the face, sending both him and the body that was flung at him into a tree, knocking them both out.

"C'mon is this all the Windborn have to offer?" Hiyu goaded, taking in a deep breath to calm himself down as he looked to be sadistically enjoying himself with all the blood that was being spilled onto the ground. "I don't have time to play with you any longer. Tell me where he is or I'll start breaking legs." The golden-eyed man said before clenching his fist and punching it back directly in the face of a rider who tried to strike him in the back.

"Like we're gonna tell you shit!" Three more riders said in unison as if they were expecting him to say something along those lines.

They all circled him with three other riders joining in on the encirclement. They were picking up speed enough that a small dust devil tornado started to form with Hiyu as the target in the epicenter. He slowly started to get picked up from the ground and as soon as the winds started to pick up, his clothes started to get ripped from the razor sharp gusts.

"This is getting annoying…" The golden-eyed king said to himself as he gritted his teeth from his ever-growing irritation. "You are all… so annoying!" He roared out before spinning himself counterclockwise from the way the riders were turning, creating a vacuum that nullified their centripetal force.

Landing on the ground in a low stance with one hand planted firmly in the center, Hiyu glared at the six riders that had ripped his clothes to shreds and started to channel his anger into revving. With a quick flip of his wrist, he brought himself upside down on both hands making him spin around in a violent manner, sending out light waves of energy that impacted the riders and sent them all flying in their separate directions.

As he slowed down to a stop, he rested himself down in a low squat, contemplating what to do with the remaining 50 members who were reluctant to join in on the fight that they had been witnessing for the past few hours. They couldn't believe the destructive force that just one man could muster against an army as vast as theirs. And what's more, he was winning.

"Now then, I'm going to ask one last time… Where. Is. The. Blood. King!?" He roared out at last, spinning himself around and sending out a white and yellow fang that impacted against the large group of riders.

[Insert Music: Linkin Park – Across the Line]

As Hiyu regained his composure and started to calm himself down again, he couldn't help but hear some sort of music in the background. He was unfamiliar with the song since it was in English but nevertheless, music was being projected out just enough for him to hear it. As he listened in to hear where it was coming from, he couldn't help but notice someone yell out with a feared expression upon their face.

"I-It's the panther! Everyone run!" The rider yelled out as he soon cleared the way for what looked like to be a lone rider that had just decided to stroll on out in the midst of all this commotion.

"Yea yea… He's pulling his weapon to his sides, loading it full all of his goodbyes… yea yea…" The dark-skinned male said to himself as he was enjoying his music thoroughly to his heart's content. "Man I love this beat!" he yelled out in an ecstatic tone as he strolled on up into the middle of the fray only to finally realize where he was.

"Oh, look at this." He said with a blank yet slightly happy-go-lucky tone. "Looks like someone's been having some fun here." He stated as he looked at the amount of bodies that were lying on the ground. "I take it… you did all this?" He pointed to a random rider that was closest to him.

"H-Hell no! It was that asshole over there!" He yelled out, pointing to Hiyu who was trying to ascertain what affiliation this man had to the current tidings in the world. Was he an ally of Kiritsu… or was he really just a bystander? Either way, he was about to find out.

"Ah I thought so." The man said with a grin as he rubbed his knuckles against his white T-shirt with the words 'TRICKIN' pasted on the chest. "Name's Marcel Talyn, how about yours?" he asked as he extended out his hand in earnest friendship.

Looking at him inquisitively, Hiyu couldn't help but notice the presence this man held. He sure was an odd fellow but something about him seemed off. He stood 6 feet tall. His right eye was hazel, his left eye navy blue. His hair was brown, weaved into a dreadlock style that fell just short of his shoulder blades. He was rather skinny with a white shirt and dark blue ¾ cargo pants held up by a belt buckle that had the letters "LP" on them. His AT's were a bold blue with silver lined trimming along the base of them. There were three white tribal streaks that started at the front of the AT's and etched back until flowing up towards where the ankles were. The wheels, completing the set, were jet black with a blue rim. Etched in white on both of the back wheels were the words "PANTHER".

"So, are you going to shake my hand or what?" He asked as Hiyu was still trying to figure out who this guy was.

"I'm going to have to go with 'or what' in this case." Hiyu said as he looked at the man dead in the eyes. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. Who are YOU and what are YOU doing in this part of town?" Marcel asked as if he was playing parrot.

"My name… is Hiyu. I am looking for a…" He stopped for a moment before finding the proper word. "…Friend." He finished as he stood his ground.

"Ah, a friend is it?" Marcel thought to himself aloud as he brought his thumb and index finger to his chin, striking a thinking pose. "Your friend… it wouldn't happen to be The Blood King would it?" He asked, strolling backwards slightly so as to not be within immediate striking distance.

"And what of it?" Hiyu retorted immediately with a glare of hatred in his eyes.

"Well, if that's the case… and if what you say is true… then that means that you're pretty strong to be hanging around with a crowd like that… right?" He asked, trying to beat around the bush what he wanted to get across.

"I have no time to waste with you. You're getting in my way." Hiyu stated as he started to roll past Marcel. He was stopped though when the dark-skinned male swiftly spun himself around and brought his leg up, stopping Hiyu in his tracks when it hovered right in front of his face.

"And I'm afraid… that you're also getting in my way." Marcel said as he hovered there in that position. "I'm also looking for The Blood King… and you've been my first contact that has said anything about it without running away like all of those other idiots." He said as his demeanor changed on the flip of a dime. "So, I'm afraid that you're going to have to spend some time with me… as we settle this!" He yelled out, stomping his foot down and swinging his other leg up and around, aiming at Hiyu's face.

Blocking it with both arms and subsequently being sent through the air, Hiyu couldn't help but notice that the blow of that force didn't feel like a direct impact. It wasn't that it didn't impact him, it's that the wind behind that kick had affected him first which sent him flying before the kick actually connected.

'What the hell is this guy?' Hiyu thought to himself and he flipped backwards into the air, planting his feet against the wall of a small building in the harbor and pushing off it to send himself back at Marcel.

"I have no time to waste with you damnit!" The Light King yelled out, faking his initial strike with his fist and switching immediately into a sweep quick which was easily dodged by the receiving party.

"And I'm saying that I've got a few questions for you!" The man replied back in the same fashion by slamming his leg into Hiyu's ribs.

This time, Hiyu was ready for the attack and let it hit him. As he endured the hit, he wrapped his arm around the man's leg, jumped up with it in tow and planted both blades on his AT's against the man's face grinding him into the ground.

"I'll admit that you've got skills, but you're still not enough to beat me in a game of skills." Hiyu gloated as he stood there with his AT's against the man's skull.

[Insert Music: Linkin Park – Points of Authority]

As soon as the tracks switched over and begin to play a new song, Marcel changed up his rhythm and immediately spun himself out from under the lock that he was in. He did a few back flips to open up the space between him and his opponent before striking a fighting stance that looked like he was skilled in the art of dancing. Hiyu was unfamiliar with this as he had never seen this type of style of combat but regardless, he was ready for anything.

"Alright alright alriiiiight!" Marcel said to himself as he got into the beat of the music. As the song hit the chorus, he immediately jolted forward in a torrent of wind and speed. "Eat it! **Metralleta!**" He yelled before rotating himself into an effigy of spinning force.

With each spin and rotation of his leg, a pillar of solidified wind, if that makes sense, was went at Hiyu with enough force to break the first layer of skin on his arms as he tried to endure the attack. It was a brutal onslaught at that. With just a few rotations and spikes of energy that was emanating from his AT's, he was able to concentrate the wind into a single pillar which was used as a javelin that could rip apart an opponent if they weren't prepared. If it wasn't for Hiyu's reaction speed and skill as a rider, he most surely would've been impaled by one of these pillars and left with some serious injuries.

"Not done yet!" Marcel said again as he rolled himself backwards across the dirt and ejecting himself off the ground from what seemed to be his own version of a launch with his hands.

As he came to the peak of his air time, Marcel once again began to rev his AT's with enough force that the winds around him started to appear to the naked eye. He then unleashed that energy in a surge of power that was formed into a large tornado. It looked just like the ones that the other six riders of the Windborn did but this one was a lot larger and a hell of a lot more forceful. As the description suggested though, Marcel named this move **Tornado!**

"Of course…" Hiyu muttered to himself as he gritted his teeth, trying to hold his ground against this force of man-made nature. "Don't… underestimate me!" The golden-eyed man replied with disgust as his eyes seemed to gleam with hatred at the one who was impeding his advance.

Revving up his wheels and using the force from the Tornado, Hiyu disappeared from sight and before Marcel realized it he appeared behind him with lightning speed. He implanted one of his AT's in his back and as his arms came jolting back from the force, Hiyu latched his hand upon them and held him in a bind as they both fell into the Tornado, sending them off into the air again. Using this to his advantage, Hiyu let off another signature move that he neglected to name off as Marcel had done.

"Die you arrogant idiot!" Hiyu roared out as he sent a 'fang' of energy that impacted Marcel in the chest.

Normally, that would be the extent of his attack since Hiyu hadn't shown any other use of his fangs… but this time was different. This time, Hiyu was serious and he was going to use his abilities to his utmost to defeat this foe. As the energy was about to dissipate, Hiyu somehow appeared where the fang had ended with his original position fading into nothingness as if it were an after-image. He didn't stop there though, he repeated the same process six more times, using every angle to was available to him before he ran out of air time, landing on the ground severely exhausted from the amount of energy he exerted.

Heaving his lungs in and out, Hiyu slowly rose up into a standing position, looking over to see exactly how much damage he had done to Marcel. His eyes widened when he realized that Marcel was slowly getting back up. He thought that would've knocked him out with how much damage he had suffered but he was dead wrong. Before he could reaffirm his defenses, Marcel as already up, ready and willing to go, despite his shaking legs from the impacts he received.

"W-What the fuck…?" Hiyu complained as he looked at the man jumping up and down slightly, as per his fighting stance. "You're still able to move around after all of that?" he asked, still unconvinced that the injuries he had administered had no effect.

"Oh, don't worry about that… I'm still wondering myself how I'm able to move right now… I'm not questioning it though. Just call it a lucky second wind." He answered as he slowed down his pace. "Now, feel like answering my questions now? Or are we going to have to continue this until someone falls out from death or exhaustion?" He asked, throwing out the option of death as if it were nothing.

"I guess I'll have to keep fighting you until you move then. Are you that dead set on getting me to answer your stupid questions?" Hiyu asked, trying to regain control of his shaking legs.

"Yep… I'm dead set on it." He replied back, his chest heaving up and down as he slowed down his breathing.

"Well then, it appears we're at an impasse…" Hiyu came to the conclusion as he took up a fighting stance, prepared for the worst against the most unlikely of foes.

"Appears so… so, shall we?" His opponent said with the same tone as he slowly started to advance on Hiyu's position.

As they both got ready to sprint at each other again, the strangest thing happened. They were both committed to the attack. They were both about to attack each other with the rest of their force that had accumulated in their bodies. They were both prepared for the worst… however, what they didn't expect was some random person to intervene at the last possible second that sent them both off course just enough to do a double K.O.

"You idiots!" The bystander said in a feminine tone as they locked punches into their jaws, effectively knocking them both out from the force to their heads. "God damnit… what am I going to do with the two of you?" The voice said before they both faded into the confines of their consciousness.

* * *

[American Home, Los Angeles]

"…and that's all for the news report." The newscaster said. "Up next, a museum robbery occurred in the late hour last night. Suspects have been known to have been what the media has classified as 'Storm Riders'. These people are rollerblade riders who use Air Treks, a motorized version of rollerblades. Witnesses say that the group was targeting a certain item since all of the other pieces of work that were much more valuable were not harmed. Currently it is unknown who was involved and police investigations-" The news report was cut off by the remote.

"Well, looks like they still have no idea on what's going on." Sora said as he sighed to himself. "Any ideas when the boss will be getting out of his room?" Sora complained to his companion that happened to be watching the news with him.

"No. He said that he needed to take care of a few things with Zyra and that he would want an update on the situation when he was finished." The man replied to him.

"Oh? 'Taking care of a few things' Huh?" Sora emphasized on that phrase of the man's sentence. "Sounds kinky." He said with a grin.

"Quit it. You know that he holds no affiliation with her like that." The man replied. "However, I will admit that she is rather attractive."

"Whoa, you're interested in her?!" Sora said with a shocked expression.

"S-Shut the hell up." The man retorted back, ending the conversation.

"But still… they really are taking a long time. Was the injury really that severe?" Sora questioned the man but got no response. "Oh well, as long as he doesn't fuck this up, I really don't mind." He finished his complaints with a grin that could either be conceived as a man who was content with that answer or just a man with an ulterior motive.

[Dark Room, American Home]

"Heart beat normal… temperature normal… Subconscious is wavering due to side effects of the Muramasa but overall within norms. Looks like everything checks out alright but I'm still worried about what you said earlier. Are you sure you're fit to ride with these new implants?" The feminine woman said as she finished toiling on the computer with the statistics.

"I'll be fine. I just need to know when the new implants will be finished." The man said as he was laying down in the mechanical bed. "Let me worry about the confines of my own head." He finished before closing his eyes.

Before he could realize what he had accidentally done, Zyra took this as her chance to come in close and land him a kiss on his lips before he opened his eyes up again to see what she was doing. It was too late though, the deed was done and it was a small win for Zyra as she did a small fist pump to signal her win.

"Just finish up the upgrades… this is holding up the process." The Blood King said, slightly irritated at her for fooling around at such a delicate time.

"Well regardless of what I do right now, it's going to take at least three hours for the parts to synchronize with one another. If you take off now you might as well be calling yourself dead. The parts weren't meant for this type of Air Trek load out so you're forcibly exerting them together… granted it's possible but you're going to require tune ups every so often and it's going to make it difficult to-" He had heard enough of the explanation to get the picture.

"Alright I hear you… Just make sure that when we enter into part two of this phase that my AT's don't break down. It'll be hell to pay and it may cost everyone their lives if the main actor couldn't perform." He stated cryptically.

"Understood Murama- I mean… Blood King-sama…" Zyra stopped herself as if she didn't mean to address the one before her by his AT's.

The two sat there in silence within the room as she started to tinker some more with the AT's that were resting on his feet. Usually a tinker would tune the AT's when they weren't on their feet but for some reason this type of tinkering had to be dealt with while they were on him. As she toiled into the night, The Blood King stared at the TV in the distance, looking at what they had done that night. Thoughts within his head of the coming battles were more than enough for him to wait patiently. This was a delicate phase. It had to be executed perfectly to move the operation along.

"Just three more pieces…" He mumbled to himself before sighing gently into a sleep.

**For once, not much for me to write here so I'm just going to say thanks to Mugen7 for giving me the OC Marcel Talyn, the rowdy, happy-go-lucky 'trickin' rider who rides for himself. Hope you enjoyed the battle scenes. I apologize if they aren't as long as some might think they should be but I'm just not that good at depicting such things. I'll try my best to tailor the fight scenes to fit the requirement that some of you have wanted for awhile so please bear with me as I try to mend this.**

**Thanks for all the support thus far, as I've said before if you have any OCs or characters from YOUR fanfictions that you would like to see participate in this story, I will be more than happy to add them in. Just send me their information in the format that I have listed in my Profile and I'll do what I can to add them in. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, I'll see you all next time. :D**


	6. Recruiting Forces

"_The Tower"… known throughout all of Hong Kong to be the center of operations of all Storm Riders everywhere. It is the hub of operations. It is the focal point of all things to know in the city of Hong Kong as well as the outreaches of China. It is a beacon. It is the area where everything starts and ends… it is where Ikki, Miyuri and the rest of the gang are to see if they can recruit the help of the Storm Riders in this region to their cause._

* * *

["The Tower", Hong Kong]

The dusty remains of a once prominent tower. The shattered remains of a once peaceful nation. It has been morphed and manipulated in such a way that only riders of a certain skill level can live and fly in the back reaches of this godforsaken alley. Ikki and his gang of fellow riders have finally reached the confines of this place. It is here where they will be put to the test. As of what or how though: well, they'll find out soon enough.

As the gang reached the center area of the tower, the sounds of revving AT's and the commotion of everyone gathering to see what today's attraction was could be heard throughout the entire complex. The center of the tower was completely hollow. The staircases and railings that surrounded the open space in a square-like fashion went all the way down even deeper than the ground floor of where the brick wall was first place. Lamplights decorated the area with a flickering sensation. It felt truly like a sight to behold as the wires etched throughout the complex, connecting each light to one another. When one light would go out, the others would flicker in turn. When the shaking and rumbling from an intense match would commence, the lights would shake and squeal with an atmosphere of fragility. It was a haven. It was the underground. This, was "The Tower".

"What… what is this place?" Kazu asked, amazed by the stories upon stories of people gathered at the edge of the railings to see the matches taking place on the screens that could be seen, portraying the conflicts that were taking place deep in the earth at the base of "The Tower"

"This is "The Tower". I mean look." Miyuri commented as she pointed to a poster of propaganda that the police put out on "The Tower".

It was a rather colorful picture. It was a picture of a close-up view of the brick building with AT skid marks lining the entire walls. The sign at the bottom said "BEWARE: Storm Rider incidents taking place within complex. Use extreme caution when entering in vicinity of the area."

"Wow. This place is that infamous?" Kazu asked, amazed at how much publicity this place got.

"Yeah. Ever since the place was re-made by someone, who the people here don't even know, it's been like this. Every night, teams come here to watch the competition, compete in Parts War battles and live freely as if this were their sky… granted this "sky" of theirs isn't one I particularly like but it has the same type of feeling don't you think?" Miyuri explained as she looked at the screen to see what match was going on.

As it turned out, there was a Cube match going on. It explained the specific atmosphere that she was feeling. She wasn't much for Class D Cube matches since they were all about using AT's to hurt others but it really was a part of the AT world. The two teams that were fighting against each other all looked like to be beating the hell out of one another. Neither one of them were giving in.

On one side you had "The Kamikazes"… Not really that original but it was odd since usually when you thought of 'Kamikaze' you'd think of suicidal idiots but it wasn't like that with this team. They were holding their own up against another generic name of a team named 'The Battousai'. Now, I could go on and on how a Battousai was a total badass and how these guys definitely weren't so we'll just move on from that.

"So… who is it that we need to meet here?" Ikki asked, completely glued on the screen, seeing if he could get a chance to be on the television for all to see. "And… is there any way we could possibly get a match here?" He asked, wanting really badly to show off.

"1: We need to go see the conductor of this place. He lives on the top floor and watches everything with his cameras. 2: No. We have no time to dally." Miyuri said, answering his questions in chronological order.

"Awwww…" Ikki complained, disappointed at the strict schedule they were on. "But I want to show off my skills to these people… besides if we do actually commit to a match and show them what we're riding for and standing up against, wouldn't that also help our cause?" Ikki asked, trying to manipulate the conversation his way but coming up with a comparison of two things that had nothing to do with one another.

"Nice try but no. We've got to go see the head honcho." Miyuri finished the conversation before pulling Ikki by the ear, dragging him behind her like a mother tending to her ADD child.

"A-Ah! Ah AH ah! Quit it, I get it! Let go of my ear! It's gonna rip! I swear it's going to rip off!" Ikki started to cry as he was pulled away out of sight and up the stairs.

Staring at the spectacle before them, the rest of the gang couldn't help but give a deep sigh and follow in tow as they made their way up to the top of the stairwell which led directly to a carpeted room with a large double doors sealing off the main boss of the complex with the rest of the world.

The doors were made out of a metal material. It most likely looked like to be some sort of steel but it was odd to see such a door like this with all of the other doors in the area looking to be made out of wood. The handles on the two doors had a skull on each of them. Within their sockets were red gemstones that were placed inside the eye sockets. The lights that were mounted to the walls were refined. They weren't the flickering lights that were seen down below in the other floors. These lights looked like they belonged to a million-dollar mansion and then some. To complete the entire scenery, a large red carpet decorated the center isle of the room which extended all the way down until reaching the stairs.

"Is… is this the place?" Kazu asked as he reached the top with everyone else.

"What do you think you dumbass?" Agito chimed in as he was irritated with all the questions.

"Yes. This is the place… but it's strange…" Miyuri commented as she strolled up further towards the door. "Usually there would be two guards here… but nothing is here at the moment…" She considered this fact as she stared at the door for any anomalies.

"What? Is something wrong?" Ikki asked as he walked up to her.

"No…" Miyuri began as she was deep in thought. "No… nothing is wrong… yet." She added at the end as she knocked on the door.

Despite her expectation of no one to answer, the unlikeliest of things happened.

"Yes Miyuri, please come in." The voice from behind the door said as he heard the knocking at the door.

Complying to his request, the cautious woman opened up the door and peeked inside to see if it was truly _him_ that was speaking and not some sort of imposter. It was odd for _him _to not have any sort of protection around when events were going on. Even though he was a capable rider, it's not like he was invincible.

"Welcome Miyuri… to "The Tower"." The familiar voice said as he stared at the screens.

"Glad to see you're still up to your mischief and cunning… Yoshitsune… Where's Benkei?" Miyuri asked as she recalled her leopard-skinned-wearing 'friend'.

"Oh her? She's off somewhere in America right now. She didn't say what for though… Probably having some fun as usual." He commented with his blonde hair slicked back against his skull. "What brings you here?" He asked in an unusual tone.

"Don't play coy. You know why we're here." Miyuri snapped back at him with an incriminating voice.

"Hooo not very nice there Miyuri-chan… But you're right… I know why you're here… What I'm wondering is why you have so many little ducklings behind you." He asked, swinging himself around and slamming both of his AT-worn feet onto the table in a crossed-over position. "And what is it that you want me to do about all of this anyways…?" He asked, as if not really expecting a proper answer.

"Oy oy oy… Who the fuck you think you are Yoshitsune?" Agito started to get ticked off as his eyes started to shift into their feral slits, showing the blonde man that he was pissed off. "I ain't no one's little fucking duckling." He stated with a bite behind his words.

"Oh really? Are you sure about that?" The Rumble King said with a smirk as he knew just where to push Agito's buttons.

"Damn straight I'm sure. Fuck you piss me off!" Agito yelled out at the man who was clearly enjoying himself.

"Agito, calm yourself… getting angry in this situation isn't going to hel-" Miyuri was interrupted before she could finish her explanation.

"You think I give a damn what anyone thinks about this? I couldn't give less of a shit if this motherfucking cocksucker wanted to help or not. Nothing from him would benefit us." Agito snapped. Clearly there was some misunderstanding or background between the two that would explain the immediate venting but, it was probably just Agito being Agito.

"Alright time for you to be quiet." Kisaragi quickly said before swiftly strolling in and flipping over his patch so Akito came out.

"H-Huh? W-what happened?" Akito said, clearly confused on what transpired in less than a second.

"Nothing…" Kisaragi commented before leaning up against a wall and awaiting the two to finish their argument over nothing.

"Look, you know why we're here… why do you gotta be like this when we actually require some assistance." Miyuri said, getting back on topic.

"Well that's the problem. I don't know what you want. First you want me to help you by finding his AT's, then you want me to find out where he lives and then you want me to make you those stupid jackets in no time flat. God you're really needy, you know that?" Yoshitsune complained like a kid while he listed off the chores he had to do from her.

"That's in the past… this is now."

"No, it was in the past and this is where I bring it up and wonder what exactly it is you want me to do now." He clarified, clearly ticked off at the circles they were running around in.

"I want you to help me."

"How?"

"By supporting us in this!" She said louder.

"I can't."

"Yes you can… you just won't." she grimaced.

"No, don't you dare even start with that bullshit." He said, almost offended by the statement.

"You and I have been through thick and thin through life."

"And it's exactly why I'm telling you that I can't!" He said getting louder.

"Why not?!"

"Because it's not possible!" He finally yelled out, standing upon his feet and glaring at her through his sunglasses.

There was a good long silence that entered the room. Everyone was silent at the growing tension between the two capable riders. Anything could've happened at this point… hell, anyone would've wished for something to happen to make this feeling uplift.

"He's no longer the person we thought he was dammit… there's no telling what's going to happen if we just openly confront him. You saw that video. You saw what he did. He took out their legs completely and destroyed their capability to ride. Do you know how dark a person's soul has to be to even think of doing something like that?" Yoshitsune explained his argument, making everyone remember that gruesome video.

"This isn't like it was in the past. He's too far gone for any of us to do anything about it and the second you get that through your thick skull, the better." He said pointing a finger at her.

"…refuse…" Miyuri muttered to herself, just barely audible.

"I'm sorry what was that?" The blonde asked, as he placed both of his hands on the table and leaned forward with a glare.

"I… refuse…" Miyuri said a little louder.

"I don't give a damn if you re-"

"I SAID I FUCKING REFUSE DAMNIT!" Miyuri screamed out, jolting forward and forcing one of her AT's to impact the man against his throat, sending them both into the wall with him pinned up against it. "I refuse to believe… that the 'Great Yoshitsune' the one man who has been running the underground across China, across Japan… would just tuck tail and run away when he knew he stood a chance against a threat that threatened the things he cherished…" Miyuri said as she held him there with her foot.

"It's not a matter of wanting to protect… it's a matter of what are the chances… and I'm telling you that they are slim." Yoshitsune rebelled, trying to force her foot off of his throat.

"Slim is all I need… All I need is one shot… Give me the shot and I'll make it." Miyuri said, putting more force behind her leg, making the man's head start to turn red.

He was silent for a good moment. It may have been because he no longer had enough air in his lungs to voice what he was saying or it could've been that he was actually contemplating it, but after a good 45 seconds, the man finally smacked her AT's away from his throat effortlessly as if he could've done it the entire time. Heaving up and down due to the oxygen flooding his depraved lungs again, the man slowly rose to a standing position. He was ticked off, sure, but something about him changed in his demeanor towards her. With a sullen look and a sigh he went back to his desk, picked up his sunglasses and started to make his way towards the door.

"Come with me. You have to do something for me first." He said cryptically as he vanished from sight down the long spiraling stairway.

* * *

[Bedroom, Unknown area]

"…hey…up…" The voice called out to him in his head. He wasn't sure what it was but when he tried listening for it again, it appeared more blurry than before.

"…you…up…" It called again as he tried to listen. It was then that he was violently slapped which made him immediately come to his senses.

"Ahh! What the fuck!" Hiyu jolted up, noticing that he was no longer on the streets that he thought he was on. He was actually in a bed with a large amount of blankets wrapping him up in a cocoon fashion.

"Oh. You're finally awake." The feminine voice said as it reached his ears. "Welcome to my… well I guess you could call it a humble abode but it doesn't really account for it as much." She said as she went away and came back in with a glass of orange juice. "Here… drink this. It'll help pain." She commented, handing him the drink.

"Wait what do you mean pai-" He stopped talking when it finally hit him. The pain that he had suffered last night was excruciatingly… well, painful. He almost immediately dropped the glass but held himself together just enough to place it down violently. He was breathing heavily, trying to figure out what was wrong with his body until he looked down to see the large bandages that were once white, covered in his crimson blood.

"W-What the hell… it still hurts…" He muttered to himself as he clenched his bloodiest chest with his hand. It took him another minute before finally regaining composure of himself to talk to her. He was still in pain sure, but at least he could tolerate it now that his senses were at least slightly stabilized.

"How long was I out?" He asked the unknown woman.

"Hmm…" She pondered for a second before looking at her watch. "About three weeks." She stated blatantly.

"T-Three weeks?!" He replied… well more like shouted. He then immediately started clenching his chest again due to the sudden outburst of force that was exhaled from his lungs.

"Haha! Just kidding… you've been out for a good 36 hours. Nothing much considering your 'friend' over there still hasn't woken up yet… in fact I'm kind of wondering how he hasn't recovered as fast as you have…" She muttered that last part to herself as she looked upon the golden-eyed male with perceptive gaze. "What's your name?" She finally asked, getting a feel for the situation that had transpired between the two males.

"I-I…" he stopped for a second. He didn't know why he couldn't think of it but for some reason his name wasn't coming to him. He knew that his name was Hiyu and he knew who he was… but for some reason the words weren't coming out.

"It's okay if you can't remember it right now… it must've been the shock to your head that has triggered something. Just lie down for a bit and I'll get some breakfast ready. Since you're lively enough to cognitively think, I'll wait for you outside at the table." The woman said before making her way out.

Before she walked out of the room, Hiyu was able to get a quick glimpse of her as he fully opened his eyes. It may have been hazy but he noticed she had long black hair that reached just down to the small of her back. She had a leopard-skin tank top on with black leather jeans and a pair of cowgirl boots completing the image he was able to see before she walked out.

'What have I gotten myself into…?' The man thought to himself as he started to look over his body to see the extent of his wounds. 'Well, one thing's for sure… she sure knows how to bandage up wounds so they don't spill out anywhere… and wait a second…' Hiyu thought before lifting the sheets up to see what he hoped he didn't see.

"Why… am I naked…?" he questioned in a muttering tone before turning beet red.

'She… She saw everything…' that one thought rang out as steam started to fume out of his ears.

It took him a long while before finally getting the courage to get out of bed. He noticed that his clothes, including his underwear, was all cleaned up and stitched up from any holes that might've been cause by Marcel's attacks earlier that night… in fact it looked like it hadn't been damaged at all. He quickly dressed himself and started to slowly make his way down the wooden-floored hallway. Each step was taxing on his body but he started to feel his strength return to his legs with each step. The blood started flowing through his body and before long he was walking at a brisk pace towards the smell of food.

In the kitchen, the unknown woman who saved him from what could've been a gruesome death on the cold streets was making pancakes, eggs, bacon and even stir fried rice to complete the meal… if that completes the meal that is. It honestly felt like a real home that he had entered into. When was the last time that he had actually eaten real food that he hadn't picked up from the supermarket himself to just put into the microwave? Well, let's just say it had been a very long time.

"Smells good." He commented as he took a seat at the small wooden table with four chairs lining around it.

"Thanks. I'm not much of a cooker but I can make the basics." She said as she flipped the rice in a skillet in a skillful yet slightly unorthodox fashion.

When I mean unorthodox I don't mean that she was cooking it in a weird way… what I mean by unorthodox is that instead of flipping just the rice, she was flipping the pan as well and bring it up and around like it was some sort of centrifugal motion in the matrix. It was truly a sight to behold.

'And she says that she's only able to do the basics…?' He thought to himself as he was staring in awe at the spectacle before him.

After a silent moment that lasted a good 10 minutes, the woman finished her cooking with an amazing turnout before placing it all on the table. Laid across in a gourmet-like fashion; breakfast, for what seemed could feed five people, was ready to be eaten. The scene was rather enlightening. It was a warmer feeling that Hiyu had forgotten long ago and was glad that he was able to have such a moment again, even if it was with someone he had no connections with. However, staring at the food… he really noticed that this was way too much to eat for just two people, let alone three.

"U-um… I don't mean to be rude but…" Hiyu said, trying to say this as politely as he could.

"Hm? What is it?" The woman said with some bacon sticking out of her mouth as she started to dig in.

"Um… I don't know your name nor do I know you… who are you?" he asked, trying to not be offensive.

"Oh. I haven't introduced myself have I?" She asked rhetorically as she was shocked at her 'lack of manners'. "The name's Benkei. Nice to meet you Hiyu-san." She said as she started to dig in again.

'Benkei… where have I heard that name before…' he thought to himself as he stared down at his food.

As he was about to take a bite, he noticed there was another presence in the room that he didn't sense until just now. He looked up and noticed in the doorway at the far end was Marcel. It looked like he was alive… but at the same time not. He was completely bandaged up just like Hiyu was and he was yawning and sniffing like a dog that was trying to find the bacon that was actually sitting on the table.

*sniff* *sniff* "I… smell… BACON!" He roared out, jumping up and over towards the table, taking in three strips of bacon before getting punched in the face by Benkei, sending him flying across the room and into the wall on the opposite side.

"O-Ow…" he muttered to himself with his mouth full of bacon.

"That's what you get for being rude Marcel." Benkei said, going back to eating her food.

"T-That's so mean Benben… OW!" He yelled in pain as a spoon was sent flying at an incredible velocity that smacked him right in the temple.

"Don't call me nicknames like that." She said, again going back to eating immediately following her actions. "Get over here, sit down and eat like a regular human being. We have a guest here so don't muck it up and behave like a real host should." Benkei stated in a stern voice as if she was talking to a dog.

Acting just as he was told, Marcel took a seat and grabbed two pieces of silverware before going to town on his meal. In a matter of seconds, Marcel had already eaten his first helping, finished his second and was starting on his third helping. It was only then that he looked up and noticed Hiyu's presence and shifted his look from 'hungry' to 'shock'.

"W-What the hell is he doing here?!" He flinched, scooting back in the chair, getting up and bringing his arms up to protect his upper torso and face.

"Y-You just noticed me…?" Hiyu asked, completely confused on how oblivious this guy actually was. 'Is this really the same guy I fought last night?' he thought as he continued to slowly eat however, maintaining eye contact with his recent enemy.

"Sit down Marcel… you're embarrassing me…" Benkei said, giving a deep sigh before looking over at Hiyu. "Sorry about Marcel… as you've probably surmised by now, he and I know each other… we've known one another actually for a long time. He may be rowdy and rambunctious at times but he's a good kid. Maybe needs a stern hand here and there… but he means well." Benkei explained, reminiscing on the good times that she had with the guy.

"However…" Benkei added as her demeanor changed and a shadow of a furious demon appeared behind her smile as if she were the devil itself. "…That doesn't absolve you from acting like a buffoon in front of our guest like this… do you understand Marcel?" Benkei asked in a stern tone as she latched her claw-like hand on the upper part of his shoulder, sinking into it as if it were Jell-O.

"Ah… ahh… ahhhhh… it-it it huuuurts… Okay I get it! I get it! It's hurting please stop! Ow my wounds!" Marcel escalated in the volume of his voice as she sank deeper and deeper until he finally started to shed what looked like to be a tear.

"Alright then, glad you understand the situation you're in." She finished with an innocent smile, letting go of the broken man who let out a sigh of relief.

"But really, in all seriousness I didn't really expect you'd be on the same side as us." Marcel said randomly.

"W-what? What do you mean 'on the same side'?" Hiyu asked, shocked at the comment.

"Oh. Yea… Well, we're technically working towards the same goal." He stated as if it were just common knowledge.

"What do you mean 'the same goal?' you basically just went and attacked me for no apparent reason you retard." Hiyu protested, angry that someone who just happened to be on the same side impeded him from finding The Blood King.

"What, how was I supposed to know that you were after him just like me… you were beating the shit out of all those 'Windbogus' or whatever the fuck those guys' names are… you seemed to be a pretty brutal guy in general with the way you were smiling n' shit." He explained as he chewed down on another piece of bacon. "Besides, you won't catch him right now." He blurted out at the end.

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean!?" Hiyu reacted by standing up abruptly, taking Marcel by his bloodied bandages. "What the fuck do you mean I can't catch him now?" He said with his rage peaking at an all-time high.

"H-Hey… It's not like I'm lying to you or anything… All I'm saying is that he's moved on from Los Angeles and is heading east… looks like he's stopping by the east coast before moving on… that's all I know." Marcel said, trying to reach down again to grab a biscuit and a bacon strip at the same time.

"And you're the cause of it… right?" Hiyu clenched his fistful of bandages that he held from Marcel.

"Yep." He responded by taking a bite out of the biscuit.

Giving a deep sigh and regaining control of himself, Hiyu dropped Marcel and pushed him away towards his seat as he sat down as well. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he was this angry. He was seriously contemplating killing the man when Benkei interrupted and smacked them both upside the head.

"I won't tolerate violence at the table. Both of you enjoy the meal and Hiyu, we'll talk afterwards to see what we can do to assist you in your… well let's just call it a 'Quest' alright?" Benkei said, acting as arbiter in this tense situation.

Looking down at his food, the golden-eyed ball of rage soon calmed himself before starting to slowly accustom himself to his usual eating habits. As soon as they were all done eating, all three of them put on their AT's, made their way out of the home and stood on the porch to discuss what to do. The sun was shining down bright; the temperature was just right with a slight breeze swaying through the area. It honestly seemed like a good day, but the topic soon changed things sour.

"So… what is it that you can do to 'help' me then?" Hiyu accused the two people in front of him as he leaned up against the wooden support beam with his arms crossed. "I've lost too much time trying to find him and you're to blame for it. I want to know two things… 1: What's your motive or reason for getting involved in this, and 2: What can you do to help me get to the east coast?" He asked, not expecting the best of answers but at the very least answers.

"Well, to answer in chronological order, we've got our own score to settle with the little prick since he's making such a commotion. That's our job to do around the world and he's just mucking it up." Marcel said as he too struck the same pose across the way from Hiyu.

"And as for our solution to help you… I thought I would just say that I have three tickets here that will take us on a flight to the east coast. We're to leave in the next day." Benkei said, holding up the three plane tickets.

"And where is it that they will take us?" Hiyu asked with a slight smile protruding from his face.

"It's going to take us to the most unlikely of places but… I think it's where he's headed next." Benkei said as she handed him one of the tickets.

"Bexcoal?" Hiyu asked inquisitively as he read the city name. "Never heard of it before."

"I didn't expect you to. It's… ah well; you'll get to see it when we get there." Benkei said as she reminisced the last time she was there.

With tickets in hand and a new resolve to find The Blood King, Hiyu sets out with Marcel and Benkei in search for him. His quest now leads him to Bexcoal, the unlawful city. Home of The Lone Wolves.

* * *

[Airport, Bexcoal]

Finally reaching their destination, The Blood King and company depart the plane with their gear and set off for their next point of contact. The Blood King has only heard rumors of this area but has never once been here before. His hope is to recruit the help of The Lone Wolves in his quest to change the world. To what ends will he go to change the shifting gears in the world? Well, only time can tell with that.

"YES! We're finally off that godforsaken plane!" Sora complained as he kneeled down on the ground and started to pray to his holy savior. "THERE IS A GOOOOD!" He called out as he outstretched his arms.

Following up directly behind him, the crimson-eyed demon clad in black strolled right on past him towards the directions he was given by an anonymous contact. He had the GPS location that was sent to his phone as well as a message that was delivered to him the second they landed. It would be rather odd for some to just randomly and coincidentally receive a message such as this but to The Blood King… all it meant was that he was now a guest in the city of Bexcoal. And it wasn't like him to keep a host waiting.

"Come on. We don't have time to lose." He said with a hastening of steps.

As they cleared the airport and reached the beginning edge of the city, all they could do was stare in awe at the large skyscrapers of Bexcoal. The city was almost similar to that of New York City; however… it seemed a little bit darker. It seemed more corrupt, like you placed a small bit of tar in water and instead of it just sinking into the bottom; it would continually eat out until the whole bucket of water became tar. This was the city of Bexcoal… it was a land of corrupt individuals. Thugs loitered in the streets. Fires could be seen emanating from large metal circular tins. Broken and abandoned buildings could be seen every few blocks and it was rare to not see a mugging taking place in any back alley that you just so happened to look down. The place was the lowest of the low. The ones who stood on top were the strong and the weak were crushed underneath. This was Bexcoal, this was where Kiritsu would meet his new 'allies'.

"You know… this place kinda reminds me of that one movie with that bat-creature thing… what was that place called?" Sora asked as he strolled his way down the streets in his AT's.

"I think the movie you're talking about is 'Batman'… and the city was Gotham City." Zyra commented, riding next to The Blood King so she knew she wouldn't be targeted by thugs that easily.

"Y'know… the way you ride so close to the boss like that… makes it look like you're a couple… y'know?" Sora mentioned as he avoided a swift kick that was aimed for his balls. "H-Hey that's dangerous!"

"Quit mentioning things that don't concern you Sky-tard." Zyra insulted the spiky-haired man as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Wow that's not very nice… Boss-man~ your tuner is being mean to me again~." Sora complained with a fake, yet slightly believable, sobbing face.

"You make it sound like I actually give a damn." The 'boss-man' responded with a cold tone. "If you don't like her attitude, you can go scout up ahead and find the place we're supposed to go. Here." He said before throwing the phone with the location on the screen. "Lead us there."

"Tch… what do I look like? A tracking dog?" he asked as if he was expecting him to deny the question.

"Yes."

"Wow… everyone is so mean…" he muttered to himself before looking down at the tracker.

Now taking point and strolling ahead of the group, The Sky King looked down at the tracker and noticed about half-way through the trip that he had been leading them down the wrong way. In fact, now that he thought about it, they were probably so far off now that it wouldn't matter which way they took. They were most likely completely lost.

"U-Um… boss-man…?" The spiky-haired individual asked, coming to a stop.

"What is it? Are we there yet?" The Blood King asked, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

"Um… yea… about that… we're actually-" He was cut off in his excuse to save himself when the murmuring sound of several AT's could be heard all around them. In a matter of seconds, twenty riders had encircled their position, all armed with different weapons that ranged from knives to tire irons like you would see out of a mobster video.

"Are you the one that is called 'The Blood King'?" One of the riders, supposedly the leader, asked as he strolled out in front of the group.

"Yes. I am The Blood King. Who are you?" He asked as he too moved forward to meet the adversary.

"We've been sent from 'The Elder' to come and take you to the hideout. We're the Lone Wolves." He said before his eyes turned to little feral slits.

"Ah… we've been expecting you." The Blood King gave a small grin of approval before following the pack of riders back to their den.

As the group of wolves led the small group of foreigners, they couldn't help but notice as they were going deeper in deeper into the confines of the city. It seemed that wherever they were going, they were way off course from where they were originally intending to go. In fact, it was so far off course that the whole scenery seemed to change from the gloomy overhang that the city naturally presented itself with; to a darker, more sinister version that seemed to choke the air out of you as you progressed deeper and deeper. Before anyone had the balls enough to say anything about where they were going, everyone came to an immediate halt into what looked like to be a small cave with a door protruding from the darkness at the far end of it.

"We're here…" The leader of the small group of riders said before turning to face The Blood King. "The Elder will be waiting for you inside. I still have some things to attend to so I'll leave you here. The Elder wanted me to let you know that his home is your home. Please make yourselves comfortable and may you enjoy your stay here for while you're in Bexcoal." The man explained as he took a small bow and took the rest of his group with him into the night of the city.

"Wow. He was polite." Sora mentioned as he noticed the rest of the group had started to make their way into the confines of The Lone Wolves lair. "H-Hey wait for me!" he yelled after them as he tried to catch up.

As they entered through the door and made their way through the dark confines of the building, The Blood King's senses couldn't help but feel that he was being watched the entire way through. Granted, it was to be expected since they were within the belly of the beast and they were leading them to The Elder with torches that had been lit to light their path to him. Regardless, it didn't help but keep him on edge as he moved through the dark corridors lit by small red torches.

It took them another few minutes before finally reaching a large set of double doors. Just like he expected, each handle had a wolf's head engraved on the top with the handle poking out from their mouth as if they had been skewered by them. Their eyes were pitch black with Jet gemstones placed in their eyes. The doors themselves were made of indescribable material but it went well with the atmosphere. The smell of dried blood filled the room as they entered through the double doors. Sitting atop the perched throne made of fur and bones of what could only be discerned as a wolf, was what everyone perceived as 'The Elder'.

As his name suggested, he was a very elderly man. He held in his right hand a cane with a wolf's head perched on top. His attire was very simple yet at the same time looked to be quite expensive since it looked to be a robe made of wolf's fur and leather that had been handcrafted by the most skillful of hands. His stature looked like he could be pushed over and killed at any time however; his demeanor showed that of a true emperor that ruled with an iron fist. He was not to be questioned and his word was law. This was his land and this was his city.

"Welcome… Blood King. I, as well as all of my wolves here, have been expecting you." He said in a rigid yet demeaning tone. "I hope the smell doesn't refute your senses. I love the smell of blood due to the line of work I have had to deal with these past several decades." He said before looking off to the left as if he were looking at someone.

"Thank you for the welcome, Elder." The Blood King responded with a small bow. "I hear that you have something that you can offer me and that I have something that may be of use to you." He said tactfully, trying not to overstep his bounds.

"Yes… it is true that you hold something of value that I wish to have… but I'm not sure as of yet if you deserve the help from us." The Elder said as if he were judge, jury and executioner.

"H-Hey what the fuck's that supposed to mean?-" Sora started to say as he was interrupted with an arm to hold back his words.

"It's okay… this is his home and we are his guests..." The Blood King cautioned his subordinate as he turned to look back at The Elder. "I apologize for my friend. He knows not how to properly do business… However, it does beg to question what you mean by 'Not deserving of help'. It makes me truly wonder if you are as powerful as everyone says you are." The Blood King mentioned, bouncing the ball back in The Elder's court.

"I meant no disrespect… it's just that we have ways of making deals here. When asked to help on such a grand scale as you have been making your actions as of late, it makes me wonder exactly what you plan to do with your… lack of influence… throughout the world." He noted delicately so as not to start conflict.

"Then what is it you propose so we may strike a deal?" The Blood King asked, discerning rather quickly where this was going to turn.

"Well, I would suggest that when in Bexcoal, do as the people of Bexcoal do… and in terms of the people of Bexcoal… I mean how we do business here." The Elder said as he motioned over someone who had been lurking where he had looked earlier. "This here is Dante Fangs, the most elite of my subordinates. If you can survive a fight with him for 10 minutes… you have my respect as well as my support. Simple, no?" The old man asked as he reclined back further into his chair, awaiting a response.

"Sure no problem! I'll take hi-" Sora was once again cut off when The Blood King motioned him to cut off his words before looking back at the giant who had been waiting patiently.

The elite of the elites, Dante Fangs… He stood 6'7" with a large muscular build. When I say he was muscular I don't mean that he had just a regular six pack and looked like he was doing well for himself. When I say 'Muscular' in terms of Dante Fangs, this man was as muscular as he was tall. This man, this thing… was a walking tank of muscle that looked like he could snap a 2x4 with his pinky if it was physically possible. He had long dirty-blond hair that covered his face but piercing out from between the bangs of his hair were two red beady eyes that looked like they belonged to a feral beast. His attire consisted of the regular uniform that The Lone Wolves that they met back in the alley wore except this one had some more tricked out designs.

He wore a hood on his head with wolf ears protruding out from the top. The hood itself extends down to his nose but he is able to see through the hood due to two holes that have been cut out for him to see. On his shoulders and raping down towards his legs is a dark-blue trench coat with wolf-like tribal markings in white that decorate the shoulder area. On his right shoulder in particular was a black piece of leather that wass attached and strapped to the trench coat. Three pieces of strapping, that held what looked like to be a great sword but he wasn't currently wearing it at this moment, could be seen from the top part of his shoulder.

Moving down to his waist was a large engraved buckle with the engravings "BLOOD PACK" decorating the lower part of the buckle. The buckle itself was the head of a wolf with a part of the neck which the letters "BLOOD PACK" could be seen overlapping it. The wolf's face seemed to be smiling a sadistic smile showing was looked like to be serrated teeth however; it was hard to tell from their position since they were roughly standing 20 feet from one another. His legs were covered in black pants and piercing out from his feet were his AT's.

The AT's were crimson red in color. The front part was covered with a black metal plate and the trim was a spiky black that lined the bottom. The heel and the forefront were the most noticeable that could be seen as a serrated circular disc could be seen slightly poking out from the front of the plate while the heel had a spike coming out from the back. Overall, the AT's looked like they had been modified to hell and back and it seemed that this guy was definitely no joke.

"Sora… I'll handle this guy." The Blood King stated after getting a feel for his opponent.

"W-What? YOU'RE going to fight him?" Sora asked, slightly shocked that he was volunteering to fight for him. "I gotta say that's slightly odd coming from you."

"No… it's not really… I just realize that you're still worth something to me and I don't need you dying on me yet." The Blood King explained as he stepped forward. "Dante Fangs… correct?" The Blood King addressed the large enigma as he stepped forward.

"Yes…?" The muscular man said with a bellowing tone before looking at the smaller man with a keen eye.

"As you might have noticed by now… this place isn't large enough for a proper fight. With your permission, I would like to fight in a more open area so as not to destroy this humble home of yours." The Blood King suggested to The Elder and Dante as he looked about the place.

"You do have a point… Dante." The Elder ordered the brute as he looked over to address him. "Take him to the proving grounds… that should be a large enough area to combat with him."

"You're… not going?" Dante asked in an odd tone.

"No. I have other things to attend to. You are to fight him until you are content… 10 minutes should suffice, correct?" The Elder asked as he slowly got up with his cane.

"…" The brute was silent for a long moment before looking back at The Blood King. He gave a small nod of approval before jumping down, slamming the floor beneath him, no further than five feet away from the group. "Come… with me…" He struggled with the words to say as started to walk out the way they came in.

"Blood King…" The Elder said before the group left. "If you should succeed, all you will need to do is come back here. If you should fail… well… then this will be the last time I see you." The Elder stated before going about his business.

With a small yet reluctant nod, The Blood King exited and headed to the 'Proving Grounds' with Dante. As he suspected, Dante didn't have an ordinary set of AT's. In fact, everything he touched with them seemed to scorch and tear up anything they were ridden on. Walls, concrete, brick, steel… everything was laid destroyed in his wake. It started to make sense why everything in the area was destroyed when they got to the proving ground though. It turned out that this was the place where Dante would train on a daily basis, as per the marks that could be seen throughout the area.

As they all landed and got themselves situated, the spectators found a large observation post that they could use to stay out of harm's way while the two contestants fought their hearts out. It was a rather simple area. Large amounts of dried blood could be seen decorating the area. The smell in the air was that of death and carnage. It was a mix feeling of dread yet exhilaration for The Blood King as he had not been able to go full-out against an opponent in a very long time. He was thrilled to death in fact that he might actually find someone to truly test his skills against to his utmost capability.

"Before we begin…" Dante began before looking back at The Blood King "I have a favor to ask of you, if you survive that is…" He said with a sullen look.

"A request from someone who is ordered to try and kill me for 10 minutes? Sure, I'll listen to what you have to say." The Blood King said, feeling generous at his offer.

"I… I wish for you to kill The Elder." He said finally after a long silence.

**Whew… Chapter 8 done. Probably the longest I have ever written since a very long time. Hope you've enjoyed what I have written so far as it is probably the largest concept I have ever created so… please be gentle in reviewing as I still flesh this out. (I actually have no idea how this is going to turn out at the end so it should be an adventure for us all.)**

**I want to give credit for The Lone Wolves as well as Dante Fangs and The Elder to ****Elsmul****! He has let me incorporate a very powerful and very deadly force into this fanfiction and I'm actually really excited how things are going to turn out from now on as I think I know where to bring this next. Again, if any of you wish to add any OC's or ideas into this, please let me know. I'll be sure to try and keep this updated as I can but so as to not sacrifice quality of work, it may take me a little longer to type out than usual. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoy writing it, I'll see you all next time.**


	7. The Twin Road Rider and The Black Wings

"_I need you to do something for me… We're on the same side, we share the same goal… Where exactly are we headed to?... Bexcoal, That's where my sources say he's at… I have a favor I want to ask, could you please kill The Elder…?"_

[Basement floor, "The Tower"]

Finally reaching the bottom of the entire complex, Miyuri and her gang of fellow Storm Riders follow the mysterious Yoshitsune. What exactly does he have planned for them? No one knew as of yet. The sounds of grinding wheels upon asphalt and concrete made it apparent that there was a Cube match going on. Both teams were just about finished with one another and another two teams could be seen, ready to go at it. This Cube match was different though, instead of several fights taking place all at once in one confined cube, all 10 members were placed inside a larger cube which served as their coliseum. It was here that Yoshitsune brought the others.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Miyuri questioned the blonde enigma as he shifted around to face her.

"Well my dear… I need to see what I'm working with." He noted cryptically as he jumped atop a catwalk and looked down at the group. "Welcome, to the main attraction of "The Tower"… This… is what I like to call 'The Bloodbath Cube'." He announced as he turned around, triggering a mechanism which brought on several spot lights.

'The Bloodbath Cube'… as Yoshitsune cleverly designated it as, was just as the title stated. It was a cube that was covered in splatters of blood from the matches that took place in it daily. Both teams would sit in what looked like to be a lounge area on each side of the cube that was separated by a large door. The doors would fly open, the teams would fight it out, and the winner would win the large cash prize… whether it be in parts or just flat out cash. It was a rather clever design but it's what put Miyuri on edge when Yoshitsune continued to explain what he wanted them to do.

"I want only one of you to enter this cube against 10 other riders." He stated plainly as he looked back at the group.

"W-What?! 10 riders?! That's going way too overboard you rat bastard!"

"Oh no it's not. You just don't want to put your comrades in danger… which you've probably already deduced now, right?" The blonde devil grinned with a sadistic smile that made Miyuri's hair on her neck stand up straight.

"You don't want me or Agito to take part in this trial… do you?" Miyuri deduced, triggering the exact reaction she thought she would receive.

"Correct. But hey, I'll give you the courtesy of choosing one of your riders to go in. It's your call." He waved his hand loftily as he jumped back off of the catwalk and onto the large concrete cube. "You have one minute to decide… once you have your chosen rider, go in through the door in front of you. I'll be explaining the rules while you decide." He said, taking a microphone that just happened to be stationed in the middle where he was at.

"GOOOOOOD EVENING! Participants and customers of "The Tower"!" Yoshitsune announced to the large crowd overhead as all the monitors flickered and rearranged themselves so they could see their host for today's show. "We have a special treat for you today. One rider, one lucky… yet not so lucky rider, is going to be going against 10 Storm Riders! His, or her, skill is unknown. The teams that this sole person will be going up against each contain one King-Class rider among them! Place your bets now as we watch the bloody onslaught commence!" He ended his commentary as he looked back at the group to see if they were done deciding.

Strangely enough, he noticed they were still arguing. They were contemplating who should go in since whoever was going to go in had to be strong enough to take on a fight that most surely would've lost. It was a crooked and sadistic way of doing business and they had no choice but to go along with it.

"Hey, are you guys done deciding yet? Your time's up!" He yelled down as he received a vicious glare from Miyuri.

"Give us more time you asshole!" Miyuri yelled back as she went back to arguing who should go in.

Little to the knowledge of the group, Kisaragi had finally decided to volunteer himself. He didn't tell anyone in the group that he was going. Instead, he just sneakily rolled out from the group, jumped over to the door and triggered the mechanism that opened the door. Strolling on in, into the bright light of 'The Bloodbath Cube' he waited for his 10 opponents to show themselves.

"Well well well! It seems we have a volunteer!" He roared out into microphone as he returned to his show host-like self. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you our victim!" He yelled out with glee as he waited for the applause to die down.

"K-Kisaragi! What the hell are you doing?!" Miyuri yelled out, hoping he'd hear her. It was already too late though, the large concrete doors closed and he was stuck with his decision.

Staring out at the spotlights that decorated the room, Kisaragi couldn't help but notice that there was just way too much dried and fresh blood in this arena for it to be considered riding. This was the underground that he dreaded would happen eventually to all Storm Riders who loved to hurt others. It was a disgusting sight to behold…

"Ladies and gentlemen… let the bloodbath commence!" Yoshitsune roared, snapping Kisaragi back to reality as he watched both doors open up on his left and right.

Standing in the middle of the room, he looked down his opponents with a steely gaze. He was itching for a fight and was hoping this would prove enough to warm him up. With a deep sigh and a quick rev of his AT's he took up a defensive stance and awaited his opportunity to strike down his first opponent.

"Hahaha! It's a blue-haired little kid!" One of the riders said, sprinting out from his starting position to strike down his prey. "Prepare to taste your blood you little shit!" He yelled before jumping into an axe kick.

Sidestepping the energetic rider's attack, Kisaragi waited for the man to land before administering a roundhouse kick to his head which sent him spiraling across the floor. He felt when his AT's impacted against his jaw that it must've shattered. The man wasn't moving when he fully came to a stop on the concrete. His face was swollen and his teeth were littered on the floor. Retracting finally back to his original position, Kisaragi once again awaited for his next victim.

"Wow… one hit K.O.!" Yoshitsune yelled out with delight as he looked upon the new rider with a keen eye. 'Aha… I see…' The blonde man noted as he focused in on Kisaragi's AT's. "This is going to be fun to watch." He finished before moving his own personal camera out from focus and regained his view of the entire cube.

Giving a deep sigh at the sight before him, the leader of one of the groups looked at his other three members and ordered them to encircle the rider. If he wanted to show off to that extent, he was going to have to pay for it.

"Be sure not to get done in that quickly alright you idiots?" The leader yelled to his subordinates as he waited for a time to strike at Kisaragi's flank.

Staring down his three opponents, Kisaragi noted that the other five members on the opposite team weren't going to interfere while the other team worked him. This worked out, to a point, in his favor since he wouldn't have to deal with all 10 at once. Then again, he would have to conserve his energy for the remaining opponents since he wouldn't be afforded to take a break.

"Prepare to die you whelp!" Another rider provoked him, snapping his attention back to the three riders who were closing the circle on him fast.

'Wait for the opening…' Kisaragi noted to himself as he waited for the riders to mess up their encirclement.

Just as he expected, one of the riders acted too quickly and messed up the triangle encirclement. It left just enough of an opening for Kisaragi to narrowly avoid the initial strike of the rider and reverse it so his legs were now flying into his partner. With a loud crash and a fumbling of bodies, two of the three storm riders were now on the ground, with little perception on what was up and what was down. This left the final of the three staring down at this monster of an opponent.

"W-what the hell!?" He yelled out with a swinging kick to Kisaragi's head.

Using the forward momentum that his opponent had gained, the blue-eyed fiend ducked beneath his opponent's leg, spun himself around so as to gain enough force, grabbed the AT of the rider and swing his knee up, impacting against the joint and cracking the bone. It was a magnificent sight. Finishing off his opponent, Kisaragi roundhouse kicked the man in the back which sent him flying into the wall with a loud thud. He was now stuck with 6 more opponents… two of which were most likely King-class.

"H-Hey… he might actually win at this rate." Kazu noted as he watched the match intently. "Miyuri… who is this guy?" He asked.

"Oh? You don't know him?" Miyuri replied, slightly confused at the question.

"No… well, except his last name… actually does anyone know his first name?" Kazu asked, still keeping his eyes glued on the screen as he watched Kisaragi defend himself against the other four opponents that attacked him in a cross formation.

"Well… it's not common knowledge… but I know." Miyuri stated as she watched him jump over all of the riders and solidify the air around him to stop their AT from rotating. "Now, you didn't hear this from me but… he's actually the son of a major corporation." Miyuri divulged the information she had gathered on her teammate as if he were an interrogating subject of hers.

"Really? Is he rich or something?"

"No. In fact, he tore himself away from his family name. Everyone knows him now as Kisaragi since he manipulated his last name and dropped his first one completely… but his real name is Jin Kisara." Miyuri finally said, widening the eyes of Kazu.

"K-Kisara?! From Kisara industries?!" He yelled out, making the other people around him look in their direction.

"Shh! Don't talk so loud." Miyuri cautioned him as she put her hand to his mouth. "Look, everyone is currently looking for him but he doesn't want to be found."

"But he's the son of one of the largest corporations that makes AT parts. How could he not want to be a part of that?" Kazu asked, completely shocked.

"Not even I know that much… you should ask him sometime." Miyuri said before looking back at the screen. As it was now, Kisaragi had finished off a total of 8 opponents and now was to deal with the two King-class riders on his own. He looked to be slightly winded but he paced himself well enough to retain most of his strength. "Then again, he'll probably scorch you to ash if you bring up his family name…" Miyuri cautioned Kazu as they both watched the screen intently.

'Wait… scorched?' Kazu thought to himself as he focused on the match.

"Well I gotta hand it to you, didn't expect you to get out of that cross-formation attack." One of the final riders said on his side of the cube.

"And I didn't expect you to just keep sending them in with small groups at a time." Kisaragi retorted with a deep breath to calm his breathing.

"It wouldn't be fun if you were battered up and bruised… I want you to scream with the utmost intensity as I break you." The man responded, looking like he was enjoying his time in this godforsaken cube.

"Hey, don't forget about me now… I want to shred him to pieces with my 'road'." The other rider commented, strolling up so as to close the space between them. "I'm going to enjoy myself tonight. Don't disappoint me, okay?" The rider cautioned Kisaragi as he struck an offensive stance.

"Are you both ready yet or not? Getting tired of waiting. We have no time to mess around with the likes of you trash." The blue-haired protagonist stated, getting irritated at their snide remarks.

"Alright, you asked for it." They responded in a slightly unison-like manner.

As the rider closest to him revved up his AT's, Kisaragi noted that the man was using a variation of the Flame Road and some other road that was unfamiliar to him. Only reason he knew this was the sound that was coming from his AT's was that of a grinding or frictional-like sound. Before he could discern and analyze it though, the rider vanished from sight and immediately impacted Kisaragi against his jaw, sending him into the wall.

"Hooo… haven't gone that fast in awhile…" The rider said as he shook his hand. "And damn do you have a steel jaw…" he muttered as he blew on his knuckles to ease the pain.

Gathering his strength and getting up again after the blow, Kisaragi revved up his AT's, sped towards the rider and administered a sweeping kick. At least he should've before the rider disappeared once again from view and gave his own attack to Kisaragi's head.

'I don't understand…' he thought to himself as the rider sped towards him and grabbed his ankles as he was flying through the air and sent him straight into the ground with a flopping thud. 'How is he this fast…?' he kept thinking as his face slammed into the concrete.

"W-Why the hell is he just standing there and taking the blow?!" Kazu yelled out, unsure of how to look at the situation.

'Shit… he's using 'Time' against Kisaragi… I hope he finds out soon…' Miyuri thought as she saw the spectacle take place in front of her.

"Hahaha! Is this all you got you shrimp?!" The rider egged on Kisaragi as he stumbled to his feet. "If you can't even dodge simple attacks such as these, how do you think you're going to manage against the other King over there?"

"I'll worry about that… after I kick your face in." The steely eyes of the rider met his opponent as he revved up his AT's once more. "Quit wasting time… and let's finish this quick fight. You're not even worth my time."

"What was that you fucker?"

"You heard me… now attack." Kisaragi egged him on as he took up a defensive stance.

"Fine then, next hit's gonna send you into the ceiling!" He roared out as he once again secretively activated 'Time' to close the distance between him and his victim. 'And once again, he doesn't notice a thing.' He thought as he brought his foot up to meet Kisaragi's chin.

This time though, he saw through his trick. As the AT was about to his him in the chin, Kisaragi narrowly rolled himself back to avoid the hit. He followed up with a complex AT move called 'Tempest Turn' where he spun himself around in a 360 degree spin and pivoted so he was directly behind the rider with the built up momentum. In no time flat, Kisaragi took the rider by his shoulders, slammed his knee into the center of his back and felt the cracking sensation of spine against his kneecap as the rider was sent forward in an uncontrollable spin from the built-up force.

"Told you… you're not even worth my time." He commented as he spat out the built-up crimson fluid that was in his mouth. "Now then, are you going to be a challenge? Or just a pushover?" He egged on the final rider as he held his fist to his side.

"Oy oy oy…" The final rider retorted with a confused expression. "How in the fuck did you activate Flame Road's 'Time' when you're not even using the Flame Road? That makes no sense bro." He commented as he took a more alert stance.

"None of your business, now let's get this done and over with." The blue-haired man said as he slowly started to advance forward.

This final rider wasn't like the rest. He was of a larger build with muscles that looked like they could contend with Buccha and yet he was still rather skinny despite this. His AT's were slightly larger than usual which would indicate that he causes larger area of effect attacks than pinpoint hits like the last rider he fought with. Either way, this guy was going to be a challenge.

Sprinting up to him finally, Kisaragi unleashed a large swing of his AT across the man's chest which was easily avoided. He was then greeted with a knee to the face that he barely managed to avoid by bending himself backwards, watching the man fly over him with grace. Before he could recover and defend himself again, he was struck in the back of the head with the rider's AT and was sent into the air from the force of the blow. As he slammed into the top of the cube Kisaragi couldn't help but notice that the rider, now below him, was standing there. He was waiting for him to peel off the ceiling before he would then go to work on him.

Inevitably having gravity take control of his person, Kisaragi fell from his imprint in the ceiling and came down upon the rider with an axe kick. It didn't seem to do any damage though as the rider didn't move nor did he brace himself as he blocked the attack with his forearm. He instead, grabbed Kisaragi once again by his leg and slammed him into the ground before rinsing and repeating the same thing back and forth a good four or five times as if Kisaragi were a rag doll. Getting bored with his 'toy', the rider threw his prey against the wall and slowly started to walk up to him.

"You know, you're going to die at this rate if you don't take this seriously." The rider noted as he grabbed his plaything by the turf of his hair and hoisted him up by it. It was then that the brutality ensued.

For the next minute and a half, the man worked the blue-haired rider to a bloody pulp. He impacted his face until it was bloody. He punched his organs into submission. He pulverized his chest until he was no longer breathing in a natural pattern and to top it all off, he threw him in the air before jumping up at him and kneeing him into the ceiling with his leg. It wasn't a pretty sight, nor was it pleasant to see Kisaragi fall down from the ceiling and into the ground like a limp piece of meat.

"H-how brutal… is he alive?" Kazu asked Miyuri as he looked over at her.

Strangely enough, she was smiling. It was… almost sadistic for someone like her to be smiling at a time like this.

"What the hell? Why in the fuck are you smiling?! He's dead if not dying right now and you're smiling?!" Kazu yelled at her as he was getting pissed off at her attitude.

"Look you idiot." Miyuri commented as she pointed towards Kisaragi's face.

Discerning out from the blood and gore that was Kisaragi's face, Kazu picked up on the facial features and noticed the white protruding out from the red. It wasn't bone, it wasn't anything abnormal… it was his teeth.

As it turned out, he was smiling.

"So… what will you show us now… Jin Kisara?" Yoshitsune awaited with baited breath.

Lying on the ground with his sadistically smiling grin, Kisaragi started to laugh to himself as he could no longer contain his excitement.

"Hehehe… heheheha… hahaha… ahaha… AHAHAHA!" He laughed maniacally as the rider who was just dominating him, slowly started to back away at the sound. "H-How long… has it been since I've felt this much… exhilaration..?" He asked himself as he brought both of his hands to the ground and slowly hoisted himself up. "How long… has it been since I've been pushed like this…?" he asked himself as if he revved his AT's in a different manner than before.

Steam slowly started rising out from his AT's. He felt the fire start to ignite on his wheels and before you knew it, a small inferno of wind and blue flames formed in his wake.

"Executing gear shift…" He muttered to himself as his AT's shifted their wheel placement to create an abundance of friction that rivaled that of the Flame King.

"Hey hey hey! Not cool, you have more than one road?!" He yelled out as he took up a defensive stance.

"I have much more than that…" He replied before holding his hands up and bringing them into a box. "Time." He said before activating Flame Road's special technique.

Before the other rider had time to react, Kisaragi already dealt the finishing blow. His AT's were already scorched with the jetting blue flames blazed across the floor where his victim was standing. In no time at all, he was finished.

"Jin Kisara… special technique: **Azure Pillar**." He stated before the blue carvings in the ground erupted into an azure pillar of fire.

"HAHAHA! YES!" Yoshitsune yelled out at the monitor. "This is what you're capable of eh? Jin Kisara!" He continued to laugh as the man who was enveloped in the flames fell to the ground with burns marked throughout his body.

"W-What the hell was that…?" Kazu thought aloud as he looked upon Jin with a new look of mixed emotions.

"That… is Jin Kisara… He's able to use two different forms of roads. The first is his own Ice Road… it's a mix between Wing and Gale Road. The other is the traditional Flame Road. The AT's themselves conjoin to form a tighter bond which creates more friction. The result, is a twin-road user capable of dishing out two different types of elemental attacks." Miyuri explained as she looked over at Yoshitsune to finally settle things with him.

"So, do we have your support then?" Miyuri asked before a new sound came into the fray.

It was a sound just like any other… except this one was far vaster than anything they'd heard recently. The sound of what was to be over 30 ATs came into the building as if it were a torrent of noise. The grinding and yelling from the populous within "The Tower" were all Miyuri and Yoshitsune needed to know what the situation was. They were under attack by the HKAT.

"Everyone run! It's the HKAT! Disperse disperse!" Yoshitsune yelled into the mic to make everyone scatter in every direction. It was far too late for him though. The presence of a person landing behind him as well as the sound of metal wires being manipulated were all he needed to know who his opponent was.

"Rumble King, Yoshitsune… you're under arrest." The unknown assailant stated before he manipulated his wires to enclose his prey. "You're caught within my web… there is no escape for you."

"Komui Masayoshi… Why am I not surprised?" The Rumble King replied, a little shocked at the response time and location skills that this foe had. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you had a crush on me." He provoked the man in a joking manner.

"Enough jokes. You're coming with me and there'll be no more negotiations." Komui said in a threatening tone as he started to tighten his gauntlets that seemed to hold the wires together.

"Aw, but Spider… you know me, I've always got a trick up my sleeve." The blonde renegade said with a smile before snapping his fingers. This in turn, triggered a mechanism which made the floor practically disappear beneath his feet, sending him into the cube landing right next to Jin. "Time to move boyo." He said before looking above to see Komui staring down at him.

"Kisaragi, we gotta go!" Miyuri called as they opened the door to the cube and beckoned them both to follow them out of "The Tower".

With the whole party in tow and Komui following right behind, the group escaped from the large complex and took several back routes, compliments of Yoshitsune, to lose most of the HKAT capture squad. This left them with one problem though; they were running in a narrow corridor with a wielder of metal wires behind them who could manipulate them into small arenas if given the chance.

"Stop." Yoshitsune told the group as he noticed up ahead the glinting rays of wire that reflected the light off of them. "We've been caught in his web it seems…" He noted aloud before turning around to see the person responsible for this predicament.

"No more games. Your time is up, evasive devil of Hong Kong." Komui addressed Yoshitsune as if he were a plague on his existence. "You are all now under arrest." He said looking at the rest of the group who he was travelling with.

"This is a misunderstanding, we can explain-" Miyuri tried to clarify before getting cut off.

"No explanations. Regardless of your affiliation with this scum of a human being, you have no rights to reason with an officer trying to take in a criminal." Komui stated before spreading his arms out wide to entangle the entire area with metal wires. "I… am Komui Masayoshi, 'The Spider' of the HKAT capture squad… there is no escape for you." He ended before the threads tightened to a taut state.

Komui stood a proud 6 feet tall with pale skin. His thin build made him a very nimble fighter. His amber eyes pierced through the veil of the web and his short dark spiky hair. Donned on his shoulders was a long beige coat. He wasn't wearing a shirt but thankfully he was wearing pants of a rusty brown tint. The most distinctive feature that made this man such a threat were his hands. Upon them were two metal gauntlets with reels around the fingers as well as the wrists. His belt looked to be of a really high-tech design that seemed to have a few surprises of its own. His AT's were grey in color with a copper-tinted lining surrounding the trim. His wheels were also copper in color and on the back was a hook that looked to be used to latch onto his wires.

It was a truly terrifying sight. The moon was just starting to pierce out from the clouds above. The moonlight shined upon the threads of wire which made them glisten in the night. Everything was made meticulously perfect. There was no way to jump over this thing without triggering some sort trap that was set. There were no holes in the defense to weasel through and it didn't look like touching the wires would provide to be fruitful to the person who would touch them. This was a spider's web… and the group was the insect caught within it. With a slowly built up rev of his AT's Komui's _'Shadow'_ appeared.

The shadow of the rider was a large spider with big fiery irises. Its legs were long and jagged, ending with scythes at the tips. The head of the spider, if that's what you would call it, was a black skull with no eyes. It was the epitome of scary with an emphasis on fear. With a quick rev of sparks and electricity flowing throughout the wires, the trap had now been set.

* * *

[Back Alley, Los Angeles]

"Ugh… how much farther do we have to go…?" Marcel complained as he bit down on a bit of his last piece of jerky that he supplied himself with for the trip.

"We'll keep going until we get there. You've really got no patience with this line of work do you?" Benkei retorted, finally starting to show some irritation at the man's incessant grievances.

"But it really does beg to question what we're doing in Los Angeles… I mean really, wasn't our flight supposed to be in San Diego?" Hiyu said as they riders had rode from San Diego to Los Angeles in a little under two hours.

"Usually you'd be right but our flight got rescheduled for a little later in Los Angeles. I got the e-mail which is why we're travelling now. Besides, this means we can meet up with two others who will be joining us in our little… well let's just call it a quest." Benkei explained as she dashed up onto the catwalks and rode the walls until piercing the top of the buildings to reach the roofs above.

With the others in two, they all peered out amongst the large buildings and noticed that things were rather chaotic despite it only starting to turn into the afternoon. It was almost as if the AT world from the night had slowly started to ripple itself outward into the day and it was apparent that something had stirred here to cause such an outbreak of violence. Police were littered in the streets. They were combating the local gangs of "The Runners" and "The Slashers" who had gone wild from the loss of their two leaders. There was no real reason for this mayhem, at least during the day, but without an overall power to keep the two sides in check, the populous in the middle just became part of the crossfire.

"Why the hell are Storm Riders attacking the police? Wouldn't that cause a major conflict between the AT world and the civilians?" Hiyu asked, shocked at the scene before him.

"It's nothing that can be controlled…" Benkei muttered to herself just loud enough to be heard. 'Where the hell are those two…?' She thought as she caught glimpse of a rider she knew.

Down below, holding off a team of 'Slashers' from harassing a schoolgirl who was in the area, was Carlos Rivera. It looked like he was having trouble with the three riders since he was only one man but still it wasn't like him to not be able to handle his own, despite the odds. It was then that she got a closer look at him.

He was bloody, tattered and above all else, gasping for breath. He looked like he had been running ragged the entire day, night and the day before. His shaky legs and piss poor footing in his own sweat made it so he was viable to be struck from behind. Luckily, none of the riders were smart enough to think of that as he pushed them all back with his will alone.

"We gotta get down there." Benkei said immediately before dashing down the walls and jumping off from the building, getting to the area as fast as she could.

"H-hey wait a minute!" Marcel interjected before sprinting after her.

Looking out amongst the chaos, Hiyu stayed atop the building to see what he could do to assist. He knew that something was up and he was going to find some answers. As it turned out, he found something that caught his eye just in time for him to be able to react.

Down below, another rider was being chased by a group of ten delinquents who were all armed to the teeth with steel hammers, tire irons, pieces of 2x4's and to top it off pockets knives that were swinging wildly at their forefronts. He didn't have much time as the rider turned into a corner which stopped at a dead end. It was there that he was trapped like a rat.

"Hehehe… Looks like it's all over for you Yotsuki…" One of the riders said as he closed in on his prey.

"If you think that I'm going to go down like a sick dog without biting one of you to death, you are sorely mistaken." The proud rider retorted with a vengeance as he stood his ground in defiance.

"Strong words for someone who's about to get skewered!" The rider spat back at him as he dashed forward with his knife in hand.

He didn't make it to him though. He was immediately impacted in the back of the neck with what looked like to be a coffee pot.

Jumping down from above and sliding down the walls with the friction burning his trail in a magnificent display of agility and strength, Hiyu formed a small wall of fire which engulfed the area in his wake. Stopping on the ground and slashing at the cement below, he separated him and his 'friend' from the enemies on the other side. He then took one quick look at the rider next to him to see his condition.

"Can you still ride?" Hiyu asked as he looked back at the enemies trying to get through the flames without getting seriously burnt.

"No… my leg's been shattered at the kneecap…" He muttered under his gritted teeth as he tore his shirt to use it as a mending cloth. "Damn bastards got me when I was trying to save a kid from some falling debris…" He grunted as he snapped a bit of his leg back into position to keep himself steady.

"Alright… guess I'll have to clear them out then." Hiyu commented as he walked towards the edge of the flame.

"W-what? Are you crazy? There's 10 riders over there just waiting to tear you to shreds. I can't condone such actions for my lack of-" He was cut off when Hiyu struck him with a glare of anger.

"People who attack others with AT's are unforgivable… This was meant to be used to fly, not to break. I'm going to show them the error of their ways now…" He consoled the man, making him stop his train of thought.

Returning to the small crowd in front of him, Hiyu took both of his hands and cracked them at the knuckles, letting his anger reach a peak as he leaned forward and walked through the flame as if it were nothing. He wasn't scorched, he wasn't burned, he wasn't in the least bit scathed from his flames as he trudged through… He was however, very pissed off. With a glare that could freeze the rivers still, he latched in hand into one of the riders' throat and spun himself around to gain enough momentum to throw him into the crowd, knocking them all over like bowling pins.

Looking amongst the group with a sadistic smile, he popped the final remaining knuckles in his left hand and went to work on them. On the other side, Marcel and Benkei had finally reached their target with a little time to spare as they too had used a projectile to buy some time. This time however, Benkei had decided to throw her prized steel rod that she used as a weapon in AT battles which impacted against the man's skull, cracking it and making him spew forth a fountain of blood from his cranium. This in turn, made the other two riders flinch and squirm as blood had sprayed into their eyes, making them temporarily blind.

"You okay?!" Benkei yelled out as she wall-runned across the brick surface and jumped off to impact another rider in the face with a great amount of force.

"B-Benkei?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Carlos said, shocked that an angel had saved him from what could have been a terrifying end.

"I was just in the area… y'know, having fun." She said as she looked at the final rider who was being punched into a bloody pulp in the wall by Marcel who was happily hitting him to the beat of his music.

"Awww yea… This. Is. My. Jaaaam~!" He sang to himself as he continued to pummel the man till he was no longer discernable by facial means.

"Marcel…" Benkei stated, shaking her head as she stopped him from completely killing the man. "C'mon we've got no time. Things are too chaotic here to get consumed in the act of… well… whatever it was that you were doing there…" She said as he looked at his hand to see that it was completely covered in blood.

"Oh. Good point." He stated blatantly as if it just occurred to him that he was overdoing it. "Oh, what's up Carlos!" Marcel yelled excitedly as he had finally realized his acquaintance was standing right there next to the woman.

"Y-You just noticed me…?" Carlos sweat-dropped at the overly dramatic reaction he had received. "Well… as much as I am indebted to you for helping me, I have to get things under control here… Ever since that bastard took out the two clan leaders, things have gone unrestrained. Both The Slashers and The Runners have gone amuck in the streets. People have been getting mugged, raped and some have even ended in deaths… it's just like it was when The Blood King first made his debut and started to wreak havoc in Japan." Carlos said as he looked around to see if there was any more chaos breaking out.

"Wait did you say 'The Blood King'?" Benkei asked as she feared the worst.

"Yeah… that fucking bastard took out both Hiro and Sanji in one blow… broke their bodies and made it so they could never ride again…" He said, clenching his fist and somewhat shuddering at the fear of almost getting hit himself with the attack. "That bastard's going to pay!" He roared out, punching the brick wall and making a small crater in the remains of what was left over.

Looking around at the area, it was apparent that this place was a lost cause. If they had a larger force then maybe, maybe they could have done a little more but with only a handful of people it wouldn't stop a group of over 1,000 strong in just Los Angeles alone. This was all going according to The Blood King's plan. He was causing panic on a wide scale across the western coast of America and he was spreading his influence in his wake as he left these places to fend for themselves. This left the populous who had no affiliation with anything in the middle of the fray making innocent lives be put at risk as these bloody territorial wars would break out into the day like a virus.

It was apparent what needed to be done. It didn't help though that Benkei felt the need, no; the obligation to help those in need that would require their help to survive this nightmare. It didn't matter though, she needed to get moving. The Blood King had to be stopped and if it wasn't going to be them, then whom?

"Look… Carlos, I know you want to help out these people but you're just one man… WE are just a few people… we can't take on this many delinquents and get them to see reason if we can't match their force." Benkei reasoned as she looked to see where Hiyu went. "We have to move on and get to the east coast to reach The Blood King so we can stop him from causing more panic and danger to spread. Will you lend us your hand in this?" She pleaded as she outstretched her invitation to the man.

Pondering his options, Carlos couldn't help but face the truth. Everything the woman had said rang true. It was a bitter, almost slapping effect that took him as he was struck with this hard choice. He had friends here. Friend whom he knew wouldn't make it if they were caught into this mess, and they most surely were if they were to stay. However, on the other side of the coin he couldn't just let The Blood King get away with this. He knew that if he was to be set free or were he to get away, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself and it wouldn't make any difference in the end if he didn't attack the source of the problem. Weighing his conscience and going through the choices he had laid before him, he reluctantly looked back at Benkei and slowly trailed his sights down her arm and looked at her hand. It was then that he made his decision to himself and latched onto it with a powerful grip, symbolizing his feelings and his devotion to this 'quest' of theirs. With a deep breath and a readjustment of his composure, he looked at the panther in the eyes.

"Let's get the bastard." He said before reacting to a movement in his peripherals. Shocked at what he saw, Carlos readied himself in a fighting stance and glared down at the two men.

"Ah. Hiyu, where did you go? And who's that?" Benkei asked as she held Carlos back to put him at ease.

Hiyu was holding the man Yotsuki across his shoulders. He was propped up against him with a white shirt torn into a cloth that was used around his left kneecap. He didn't look like he was doing too hot since he was raggedy and breathing heavily but at the same time he kept up his poise and presence so he could be seen as a threat. Almost like a wounded tiger, just waiting for someone to not take him seriously enough so he could latch onto their neck and bite it off.

"This here… is the second-in-command of 'The Slashers'… Kage Yotsuki." Hiyu stated as he propped him up against the wall so he could rest. "His kneecap has been shattered from a tire iron. He's going to need some medical attention." Hiyu stated as he tried to mend the wound using his AT's to vibrate the energy in his arms and started to transfer the energy over to his kneecap to speed up the healing process.

"Wow… using vibrations to excite molecules… where the hell did you learn that?" Marcel asked, intrigued at the new trick he was observing as he wiped off the blood against the piece of meat he had punched in.

"An old trick from an old friend." Hiyu replied cryptically as he focused on healing the man's wounds to the best of his ability. It wasn't going to do much but it would at least dull the pain and speed the process up to make him able to ride again.

After a few more minutes of revving and a little readjustment of his cloth to properly splint the injury, Yotsuki was able to stand up properly again and at least move at a relatively decent pace to keep up. It wasn't much, but it would have to do until they reached a hospital to fully treat it. Until then, he would have to put up with it.

"Thanks." He said before standing up fully. "I don't want to slow you guys down so you should go on ahead." He commented as he started to make his way towards the hospital.

"Hold it." Carlos said, stopping the man's movements as he outstretched his arm in his path. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" The man said, pissed off at his attitude.

"Where do you think? I'm off to the hospital to treat this stupid wound. After that, I'm going to do what I can here to fix this messed up situation that you and your running gang of retards caused." He retorted in an angry manner as he pushed past his opposition.

"We caused?! Are you fucking serious?!" Carlos snapped. "It was that mother fucking asshole that destroyed your leader in one hit, not The Runners and certainly not me!" He yelled at the bodyguard of The Slashers as he slowly strolled away.

"And did you help in any way? You've just been running around trying to play hero since then. Think for once and use your brain retard!" Yotsuki retorted back as he spun himself around to face his counterpart. "You have no right to even call yourself a Storm Rider with the shit that you pulled. When it truly mattered, all you could do was run as your comrades and mine went at each other." The man yelled as he made his enemy recall his cowardly act.

"I didn't run!" Carlos yelled out in retaliation, trying to deny the accusation.

"But didn't you…? Truly, think for one second in your life and recall each and every single detail that happened that night. I remember it clearly as if it were yesterday. When your leader fell and you were left with the choice of calming down your clan or going after The Blood King, you went with the easier of the two and let your emotions run wild!" He accused the man with his finger outstretched. "It's because of you that The Runners lost their focus and gave into their core emotions. It's because of YOU that things spiraled out of control and it's because of YOU that things have gotten as they've now become!" Yotsuki declared as he was now out of breathing and gasping for air.

Shocked, without a way to respond to these facts that were laid down before him, Carlos could do nothing but stare down at the ground in shame. He knew that he was giving into his emotions… I mean really, who wouldn't. His leader and been defeated in a single blow. His fight with the red-eyed devil ended with him being spared. He wanted revenge. He wanted nothing more than to take the crimson eyes of the one who had defeated his leader and pluck them out to eat for breakfast. He would've enjoyed nothing more than to see the man suffer for what he did but he just couldn't do it.

With a defeated state of shock and with an unwavering force of loyalty, he took his emotions in his heart and pounded them into his legs as he rushed after The Blood King. It was to no avail though, he was already gone and the die had already been cast. The 200-strong group of The Runners that had gathered there that night had been slaughtered along with the 200-strong group of The Slashers. It was a royal bloodbath that ended in both sides losing colossal losses.

For what purpose? None. Just pure emotions just running wild with no restraints to keep them locked up. It truly made Carlos wonder that day if the ones he knew around him as brothers… as sisters… were truly there to ride as free as he wanted or were just there to let their emotions run wild. It was a hard time for him. It was just a time that happened not too long ago but he wished it all to end in his mind… so he locked it up, never to see it again for as long as he rode AT's.

"Ah… see, you now get it." Yotsuki commented as he saw the look shift in Carlos' face. He knew that his words had gotten through. He knew that the man's spirit was broken from what he had said but he didn't give a damn anymore. He thought it was his fault and in a way it truly was… it was then though, that things didn't seem what they were.

"You know… you're right." Carlos commented as he looked up at his rival. "You're completely… one hundred percent right about me using my emotions and giving up my post. You're right that I wanted nothing more than to crush the man and leave all other responsibilities behind and for that, I'm sorry…" He stated before going silent for a good long moment.

"However… I refuse to end my struggle here." He said with a gleam in his eyes. "I refuse to give up here and now in my struggle against him. I want to destroy him and make him pay for what he's done. I want him to pay for his crimes and to suffer for all the destruction his has wrought upon this world of ours. I want him… to writhe in pain as I crush him underneath my foot and I want to see his blood soak my wheels as I break him into oblivion. He deserves nothing less than that!" Carlos yelled out as he clenched his fists in anger. He calmed down though before taking a few deep breaths to control himself.

"Then again… I know I can't do it alone." He finally said, walking up to his rival. "I need help to make this come to pass… so as much as it pains me to say this, I will only say this once so be sure to pay the fuck attention." He said as he outstretched his hand. "Will you please help me take out this man? For Hiro… and for Sanji." He asked as he stood there with his hand out.

Looking at his counterpart with a newfound wonder, Yotsuki could do nothing but keep his mouth ajar as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Never once in his life has he ever seen Carlos ask for help. Ever since they first fought three years ago when the clans were just starting to get strong, he had never seen the man give into his weaker side and ask for assistance. It was almost as if someone had replaced the Carlos that he once knew and a new Carlos took his place.

Contemplating what he should do, he looked down at the hand and once again looked at Carlos in the eyes before coming to his decision.

"Alright… I'll help you. But make no mistake, I'm doing this for me and mine… not you." He said before clenching the outstretched hand. "And if I get the chance to, I'm going to rip him to shreds… Remember that." He said before letting go of the hand.

"Well, I guess that settles it then." Marcel commented as he started to eat a bag of popcorn.

"W-Where the fuck did you get that?!" Hiyu asked, shocked as per where he found the time to microwave that.

"I have my ways…" The popcorn-eating man replied as he offered some up. "Popcorn?" He asked as he shook the bag.

"No… I'm good…" Hiyu muttered as they all started to make their way to the hospital to treat the man's leg and formulate their next plan.

"So… what exactly do we plan to do then?" Hiyu asked as he looked at the three tickets and then the, now five, people.

"We still go with the original plan. We hop on the flight as go to Bexcoal." Marcel commented as if he didn't get the question.

"We only have three tickets you dumbass." Hiyu retorted.

"Yeah… three tickets for you, me and Benkei." Marcel replied in a blatant tone as he looked over at the other two.

…

…

"Ohhhh… now I see what you mean." He commented as he finally understood the predicament in their hands.

"Hiyu's right… we've only got three tickets… damnit if I knew, I would have bought more tickets…" Benkei grumbled as she tried to think of a way to make this work.

Thinking amongst themselves as if this were 'Mission: Impossible' all three of the storm riders put their thinking caps together to come up with a solution. Remarkable enough, nothing came to them.

"Damnit! There's just no way they can get on the plane!" Hiyu yelled out to himself as he fell over backwards in frustration.

"I-I'm sorry… I should have been more prepared for something like this." Benkei said, taking the fall for the lack of foresight.

"No no… there's no way we would've known that they were here." Hiyu reassured her as he took a deep breath to think of something one final time.

"Well… why don't we just put two in as personal luggage?" Marcel commented, going back to eating his popcorn.

Eating a mouthful of popcorn, Marcel didn't pay a single bit of attention on the reaction to his comment. Apparently it was a viable option, so much so that it warranted a proper response.

"T-That could work…" Benkei thought as she looked at the schedule.

"Yeah… now that I think about it… you're right it could work." Hiyu agreed as he looked over at Marcel.

"E-Eh?! You've got to be kidding me; I was just throwing out a left-field comment!" Marcel said as if he was the only sane one left in the room.

With their plan in motion and only a few hours to spare, all five storm riders took to the streets and made their way to the airport and ultimately their overall destination of Bexcoal.

* * *

[Proving Grounds, Bexcoal]

The scent of bloodlust filled the air. It was almost intoxicating how much of it had permeated and settled within the area. The pressure was deafening and the heat of the atmosphere made it that much worse to those standing on the sidelines to watch the two colossal forces clash amidst this godforsaken wasteland. Standing in front of each other, no more than a few meters away, The Blood King and Dante Fangs stared at one another. There were no more words to be said between them. One wanted a force to call his own, the other wished to find a master worthy of his skills. It was the perfect link between them both yet both of them had to prove to one another their worth. It was here that they would prove that.

* * *

_[Flashback]_

"I want you to kill The Elder…" Dante asked the crimson-eyed devil before him. "If you are able to survive against me for 10 minutes, I will swear my loyalty to you and in return, I wish for you to kill my master." He pleaded as he stood there with a presence that could kill a man if able.

"This… is a little odd." The Blood King responded as he thought to himself for a bit. "I was planning on making The Lone Wolves a part of my plan to spread my influence… but I never expected the elite of the elites to ask me to commit to a coup de tat." He thought aloud as he brought his fingers to his chin to think for a bit.

It was truly an odd request. He never thought in his wildest dreams that this man, this beast of a rider, would willingly betray his own master to become a part of his plans. In fact, it was too much of a coincidence, no, too much of a convenience for things to be going his way this far. There had to be an additional reason, something that he wasn't spilling.

"I need proof." He asked bluntly as he took a keener eye to the large man. "Proof that you truly wish to join my cause and not stab me in the back like so many others I've considered to join." He elaborated.

"I… I don't understand." Dante replied, a little shaken as per how to respond to his request. "How can I prove something like that?" He asked, truly wishing to show him that he was genuinely serious.

"Give me your reason as to why."

"My… reason…" The elite wolf thought aloud as he gave it some time to formulate in his head.

After a few moments of thinking it through and truly understanding his feelings, he looked back at the crimson-eyed man and gave him his legitimate answer that he thought to be his true feelings. It wasn't something that was expected but nonetheless, it got the job done.

"I… I want to make change in the world." He stated finally as he stared at him in the eyes. "I wish to leave my mark upon this world which I have little time left in." He summarized as he looked down at his hand, clenching it with his massive strength that he wielded. "I don't have much more time left here and I fear my skills… my abilities… my very nature… would just be wasted following The Elder as he is now." He explained as he close his eyes.

"I am truly grateful for what he has done for me. He saved me from utter death, gave me a home and gave me a purpose… but since then he has only used me to gain power. I wish to become something more than that." He said as he finally finished his explanation by looking at The Blood King with a serious expression.

"That enough for you?" He asked, hoping for the answer to be yes.

Taking the information in, along with his body language which didn't amount to much, he could tell that he was telling the truth. Granted, it made no sense to him since he didn't understand what he meant by a little time left, he only looked to be in his thirties at most. He was far from needing to worry about aging to a deathly state of illness. Either way, the facts were fact and he took it as such.

"It'll do…" He responded before taking up an offensive stance. "Now, I believe I have to uphold my end of the agreement." He said before revving his AT's slowly.

"I believe you do…" Dante responded before doing the same.

_[End Flashback]_

* * *

"So, what do you think they said to one another?" Sora asked, intrigued as to what was going on.

"How the fuck should I know?" The muscular man responded, starting to get agitated at the little man's incessant chatter.

"Ah! Hidoi~! No need to be so mean to me…" Sora complained as he looked over at Zyra to see what she was so concerned about. "Hey, if you keep looking that tense you're going to start losing your hair." The Sky King commented as he rolled back a little to gain some room in case she started to punch him.

"I'm not tense… I'm worried…" Zyra muttered as she listened to the sound of Muramasa.

"Worried…? About what?" The spiky-haired man asked as he tried to look in the eyes of Zyra to see what she was focused on.

"The AT's that The Blood King is wearing, what else?!" Zyra snapped as she bit down on her lip. "The sound they're making are unreal… if this keeps up…" She muttered more softly, too softly for Sora to hear anymore.

"Huh? What was that?" He interjected into her ramblings, making her that much more pissed off.

"AH! There's no point in even telling someone who doesn't know the sound of Air Treks! I give up!" Zyra hissed as she stormed to the other end of the elevated platform to get away from the annoyance.

Brooding in her corner and emanating out an aura of death, she continued to listen to the sound of the Muramasa to see what was wrong.

"Don't do anything reckless…" She said to herself as she was ready to intervene to fix anything that was bound to break, at least AT's-wise.

Staring down at one another, it was a crushing ambiance. Heat waves could be seen from the amount of bloodlust that was in the air, if that was even possible. Only reason why it was the bloodlust and not the heat was that it wasn't even that hot out… it was only 60 degrees, hardly anything that would be considered hot enough to show heat waves… no, this was pure blood thirst. This was the feeling of wanting battle. This was the feeling of wanting to grind an opponent into oblivion and not give a damn about the consequences of what was to transpire. This was the fight that was to take place between The Blood King, the creator of disaster across the world, and Dante Fangs, The Blood Pack Elite of The Lone Wolves. With a few more heart pounding, ground scraping, heavy breathing moments, the two started their assault.

"Prepare yourself!" Dante roared as he sprinted forward with his AT's tearing across the ground in his wake.

Waiting for his opponent to reach him, The Blood King stood there with baited breath as he watched the colossal giant sprint towards him with a vicious smile on his face. He was going to enjoy this fight. He might even go all out if given the chance… then again he didn't want to break his new toy. It was then that his eyes widened when his opponent phased out from his view, as if he completely vanished from existence. It was then that he felt a presence from his side and he quickly guarded his left flank before getting smashed in his ribs.

Being sent flying from the blow, The Blood King quickly repositioned himself so he could drag his AT across the ground, slowing down his trajectory and regaining a foothold to fight once again. He didn't have time to fully recover himself though as his opponent was already upon him… this time though, he held something in his hand. It was a large, jagged, piece of metal that looked like it weighed at least 200lbs… and he was swinging it down at him with the jagged end.

Narrowly dodging it to the side, The Blood King used this chance to sweep himself under Dante and knocked him off balance with both of his legs. He didn't finish there though, when he finished his rotation, he brought both of his legs up and impacted them directly into the back of his skull which sent him into an uncontrollable flip in the air. Finishing off his combo, The Blood King jumped up towards Dante with a speed to rival that of Nue and impacted his knee against the man's face, cracking his nose and sending him farther down the proving grounds. Landing gracefully and brushing himself off, he noted that he had three fractured ribs and he injured his kneecap on that final hit to his opponent's nose.

'Hmm… looks like he's got naturally tough skin.' The Blood King noted as he noticed he lost track of his opponent again.

"Damnit…" he cursed himself as he listened for the sound of AT's… as it turned out, he did hear them except it was in the most unlikely of places. His eyes finally widened when he realized where he was.

He was underground.

"Fuck-" he was cut off before getting latched underground from two hands that exploded from the earth with a Titan's strength.

It was black now, too black for him to make out anything immediately. He could hear the sound of Dante's AT's but he couldn't pinpoint them since the caverns underneath made it impossible to. He was left in the dark and started to get battered down from hits to his chest, face and back as Dante circled him and immediately backed off to avoid a riposte.

"If this is all you have to offer… then you're not going to survive for 10 minutes…" Dante said before latching his arm upon his prey's neck and he started to squeeze as he hoisted him up. "Please… don't disappoint me…" He commented before slamming him into the ceiling several times.

He kept up this motion for another minute before finally dropping the sack of meat that had been tenderized. He didn't want to kill the man by that means… in fact; he wanted to keep the match going as long as possible so he forced himself to stop so as to enjoy the match more. It was then that he made a fatal mistake.

"Don't… Disappoint… Me…?" The Blood King said in a sadistic tone as he rose from his dirt nap. "It should be you… who shouldn't disappoint me…" He said as his crimson eyes pierced through the darkness and pinpointed their target with accuracy to challenge the gods.

Revving his AT's and crouching low to the ground with one hand planted, he started to kick up the dirt and disorient the area around him.

"**Execute: Black Wings!**" He roared out as the Muramasa shifted its form, unleashing a torrent of winds which knocked his opponent back.

Using this opportunity, The Blood King spun himself around and used the momentum to unleash a fang into the ceiling which blasted a hole to the surface, giving him enough of an escape route to reach the sunlight that pierced into the darkness of the caverns of the proving grounds. As he landed upon the dirt, he couldn't help but notice his teammates in shock and awe at his new appearance. He looked down to realize why.

His AT's had completely morphed from what they once were. The base at the bottom was the same with the black wheels and red lettering showing "MURAMASA" on each wheel. What was different was the amount of metal that enveloped his being. The metallic and plastic parts that made up the original ATs had completely become chrome now. The sheen and jet look alone proved to the eyes that these things were much more durable. What's more was the amount of metal covering his feet had crept up and ended right above the upper parts of his thigh. The metallic gears shifting and turning at the joints made it an extension of his body. The durable-looking steel made extra protection for his legs and the overall look made it seem like his body was changing into a mech. With a quick jolt of his leg and a spinning motion to complete the necessary movements to adjust to his new gear, The Blood King waited for his opponent to show himself.

"Time to test out my new toys…" He stated before Dante blasted out from under the ground with his large weapon in hand.

"First you don't take me seriously… then you pull out all the stops with a new form? Please take this seriously from now on… I don't wish to end this quickly." Dante protested as he was truly hurt at the man's deceit of his true skills.

"Then quit talking and let's enjoy ourselves." The white-haired demon said before taking up a low stance, grinding the dirt forward from the new power that enveloped his legs.

Taking the first strike, Dante lashed forward with a ferocious downward swing. This time, Kiritsu decided to test out how strong his new AT's were and blocked the strike completely by meeting it with an upwards spiral kick. This knocked the weapon off balance and provided him a means to grind down it and land a powerful kick to the wielder's face, sending him back into the hole where he erupted from.

Sensing what his opponent was about to do, but only a little too late, he realized that Dante unleashed a fang of black energy which impacted him in the chest. He was knocked into the air with the wind knocked out of him before he then realized that his opponent was somehow above him with his weapon swinging down upon him again. He didn't have time to react and was impacted directly in the head, cleaving him down the middle and sending him to the ground with a crushing thud. His opponent was still in the air and he could see now what had caused the fang to attack so quickly as his eyes widened at the sight of this threat.

He was using the weapon as his medium to administer fangs.

It never occurred to him that something of this magnitude was possible, but it didn't matter, it was happening and he had no time to react before the large arc of energy impacted him further into the ground making him vomit up some blood that had gathered in his chest. He was breathing heavily now… the new gear wasn't fully synchronized with his body and he was losing a lot of energy at a rapid pace. Yet strangely, he was enjoying himself. He was enjoying the thrill of battle, the thought that he may lose against a threat so large that even he couldn't comprehend the outcome. All throughout his life he had never once fought against someone who could match him in skill, strength and speed… yet here a man was, drenched in as much blood as him that he could also be called a Blood King.

Staring up at the man as he descended upon him once again with his large weapon, he started to laugh to his heart's content. He couldn't control himself anymore. All thought processes that were containing his emotions had finally given way and all that was left was the love of the fight. The thrill of the slashing of flesh. The excitement of crushing the marrow of your enemies. The feeling of empowerment that you felt as you trampled over your foes as if they were just rocks on the pavement. It was a pure feeling. A true emotion. One that they would both share for as long as this battle would continue. It was a shame that it had to end.

Realizing that his body was no longer fit to continue on as things were, The Blood King dodged the impacting strike by rolling to the side and spun himself up into a standing position. He quickly dodged further back as the man shifted his momentum to a lateral slash which sent him flying towards his opponent with great speed. Luckily enough, The Blood King was able to bend himself backwards just far enough for him glide over his body. Using this window of opportunity, he rotated himself around 720 degrees and let loose a fang with all of his might, impacting against the man's weapon and shattering it in two. With this, the battle was his… or at least he though.

Strangely enough, instead of being shocked at the loss of his weapon, Dante quickly adjusted his fighting style to a dual-wielding fighting stance. In both of his hands he held his once one weapon and started to send out fang after fang as if they were pieces of candy at a candy store. Retaliating, Kiritsu threw up one of his own barrage of fangs but quickly noticed that his were not as strong as they were being pushed back by the onslaught of black arcs. He used the last bits of his momentary mobility to dodge to the side but it wasn't enough to fully dodge the attack, thus resulting in a crushing impact to his ribs. He was sent flying into a nearby ditch that left him out of sight from his predator.

Coughing up the blood in his lungs, he felt the energy leaving his body. He knew that this would be the last strike that he could muster and had to make it count. He didn't have time to think of a strategy. He didn't have the time to formulate a plan. It was already too late for that when he made eye contact with his enemy as he was swinging down his jagged blades in an effort to behead and eviscerate his victim. Using the last bits of his strength and power, he spun around on the ground and kicked himself up into a handstand, continually spinning to create a vortex of black and red energy.

"**Bloody Vortex!**" he roared out as both the blades shattered against the current of red and black.

Dante was knocked back, what's more it looked like he was implanted with shards of red and black as the blades that were shattered had lodged themselves into his chest and legs, making the rider yell out in pain as he was sent into a nearby pile of dirt.

Recovering from the vicious attack and taking the toll onto his body, Kiritsu slowly rose from his ditch and looked to see what had happened to Dante. His eyes widened when he noticed that the monster was already pulling out the shards from his chest and the wounds that were inflicted from it were already starting to heal.

'Was this what he meant by not having much time left…? Hyper regeneration?!' He thought in amazement as the wounds finally sealed up and he was ready to go again.

"Hehehe… Hahaha! AHAHAHA!" Dante started to laugh maniacally as he was thoroughly enjoying himself. "At last! Someone who could make me have such a thrill! Someone who could make me feel alive again! Blood King! Thank you for giving me a purpose again!" He yelled out into the sky as he was overjoyed at the skills of his opponent. His breath could now be seen. His body temperature seemed to had risen from the sudden pulsing of heat and blood that was coursing through his body that anything coming out from his body was visible to the naked eye.

He was truly a wolf in a blood lustful state.

"S-Stop!" A voice from a female was heard by them both as Zyra jumped down between them both to stop the fight. "Please! His AT's can't take the stress anymore. If you keep this up, he's going to destroy both his legs AND the AT's… besides this match has been going on for more than 30 minutes now!" She pleaded as the monster before her started to walk towards his prey in the ground.

"Zyra, get the fuck out of there now!" Sora yelled out as he dashed forward to try and save her from getting mauled to death.

Before Dante smashed her to oblivious with his fist raised up high, he was foiled in his plot when Sora quickly scooped up the girl and narrowly dodged the attack which resulted in the ground becoming a crater of dust. He then reverted his attention back to his main target and slowly started to approach the crippled man with his knuckles cracking with his fist clenched. His smile was sadistic; his eyes were red slits which pierced into their targets like reticules on a sniper rifle. He was the epitome of a weapon that had now been fully unleashed. It was short-lived though when a familiar voice echoed throughout the area.

"Dante! Stop!" The Elder yelled out as he entered the Proving Grounds.

Obeying his commands as if he were a dog, Dante quickly stopped his approach and made eye contact with his master. He wasn't scared of him… more like it's what snapped him back to reality just long enough to regain a portion of his sanity to remain in control.

"I'm very disappointed in you Dante… when you hadn't returned I thought you killed the man and went on a killing spree… looks like he held out long enough though." The Elder said as he unleashed 10 riders upon Dante to hold him in check. "I sincerely apologize for my… subordinate, here. I never intended for this fight to get this chaotic especially with it lasting roughly 30 minutes…" The Elder said as he looked at the Blood King with a keen eye.

"It's… no problem at all…" The man responded as he pulled himself up to a standing position. "I should have been more careful." He continued as he stepped closer to The Elder with a more sinister purpose on his mind.

Looking over at Dante with his bloodied vision, The Blood King stared into the monster's eyes and kept them deadlocked until he was no more than 10 feet away from The Elder. He knew that no words needed to be said. The deal had been done and now it was time to tie up loose ends. What would become of this place after their head was cut off? Well, he was about to find out.

"Elder…" The Blood King stated as he turned to face him. "What is it that you plan to do to aid me in my quest?" He asked as he wanted to hear the last words of the man he was about to kill.

"A very good question… let us talk about it more when we get back to the den… I dislike the atmosphere here… it breeds death." The old man said as he looked more closely at the man before him, almost afraid of what he was thinking… and for good reason too.

Before he could react, before any of his bodyguards to tell what happen, The Blood King dashed forward and impaled a shard of Dante's weapon into the old man's skull killing him instantly. No screams were heard. Not a breath of shock could be deciphered anywhere. The place was silent as the old, decrepit flesh of meat fell to the ground with a resounding thud. The old man was dead and now, The Blood King had now gained a powerful ally.

**Oh my god… longest chapter ever… sorry for the wait as it took me forever to find some quality time to write this out. I'll be going back over this chapter to add in a little bit of content here and there since to me, it feels incomplete. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll see you all next time.**

**Once again, if you weren't here for the first update:**

**Credit for Komui and Dante Fangs goes to Elsmul! Thanks for all the assistance with providing me with two in-depth characters… hope you enjoy to see what chaos they both will bring to the table as this story progresses.**


	8. A Fatal Mistake

_Chaos ensues… the threads of fate weaving together with death and destruction intertwined like some bad joke. People are misunderstood… leaders of large organizations have fallen to the underdogs and within all of the mayhem, a shimmer of light can be seen. It's a faint glow with nothing but a shimmer to hold itself together… but it's there._

* * *

[Back Alley, Hong Kong]

Komui, member of the HKAT capture squad, also known as 'The Spider', has our gang of Storm Riders trapped within his web. His intentions are to hold them there until backup arrives so they can all be arrested. Among the group is the menace of Hong Kong, the devil storm rider: Yoshitsune. He's caught his prize and those with him are just smaller trophies to add to his record. He isn't much of a career person in the police force; he just loves his own sense of justice and feels it's his duty to do what is right while he is capable of doing so.

Standing there amidst the dark and dank alleyways… the sounds of hungry cats and angry dogs as well as the distant revving of AT's can be heard in the background. The perpetual flow of a sewage drain near the group fills the air with the smell of rotten fish and decaying trash. To top off the entire scene, it was just starting to get dark yet it felt like it was midnight in this city of thieves and unlawfulness.

"Yoshitsune…" Komui started as he held his arms out, keeping the wires taut around his fingers. "…Today is the day that you are arrested for your crimes. There's no-" He was cut off when the blonde man got tired of the monotony.

"Yes yes… 'It's time to pay for my crimes!' …or something like that, right?" The devil pestered the officer as he gave a sadistic grin. "Oh oh! Wait! I got it!"

*Ahem* The man cleared his throat as he once again tried mimicking his opponent.

"_I have finally got you where I want you, the devil: Yoshitsune! You will be taken in for your crimes and I will personally make sure you spend the rest of your life in jail!" _Yoshitsune acted in a voice that almost mimicked, yet completely insulted, the way that Komui talked.

"Enough!" Komui yelled out, completely pissed at the mocking target, trapped within his web. "You really think you can just act like you want, causing mayhem where you please? And all for what? You haven't a reason or cause to do any of this yet you still persist!" Komui accused the man, implying that he was truly conducting some sort of horrendous acts.

"Well, it is true that there really is no purpose behind it… but that's what makes it fun!" Yoshitsune commented with a grin as he felt his cheek singe with a painful feeling as he felt a wire brush against his face.

"Fun?! You think that breaking into banks, stealing money, destroying a foundation for the public to call a park as well as participate in brutal competitions that involve AT's is FUN?!" Komui roared, completely infuriated with the laughing gentleman… if that's what you'd call him.

"Yea… that's what I call fun." He replied blatantly, not admitting to any of the aforementioned yet still implying that he was.

"Die you bastard!" Komui yelled out as he swung his arms across his chest and aimed his wires towards Yoshitsune in an attempt to electrocute him to death.

"O-oh shit!" He reacted in a fright before gracefully dodging the lethal wires and slowly making his way over to his opponent, dodging each tripwire as if he were Indiana Jones.

It didn't take him long to get there as he was used to these situations. It seemed that he knew just how to push Komui's buttons and it was apparent that he knew this when he started to sing.

"It's time to sing your favorite song Mr. Spider!" Yoshitsune began in a sing-song voice. "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout." He started before dodging a terrifying attack of five wires which would've caught anyone but him since he knew it was coming.

"Down came the-" he was cut off again when a wire nearly got him in the leg and he jumped up high above the entire scene to dodge the attack. "-rain… and washed the spider out!" Yoshitsune sang with glee as he started to grind down the wall to outmaneuver his target.

"Out came the sun and dried up all the rain!" He brought the song back up as he landed no more than 5 feet away from Komui with a sweeping kick in tow to hit the man. It was easily dodged though by Komui ducking beneath it.

"ENOUGH!" Komui roared out as he was truly enraged beyond all abandon with the childish tune.

He quickly started to flair his arms out as if there were multiple arms, each with their own wires attached to each finger. The threads were going every which way, encasing the area where Yoshitsune was frantically, yet childishly jumping around and dodging the wires as if just one touch would mean the end of him. It was futile though. Before he knew where else to go, the entire area had been laid with traps. The rest of the group had stayed in the back since they couldn't move either without getting hit by the wires but Yoshitsune was dancing in the middle, trying his best to get to the wielder of the lethal threads. His time for fun though, had finally come to an end.

As soon as he tried to jump forward, the blonde devil noticed at the last second a thread impeding his forward movement. He had no other way to go. If he could perhaps phase through it like a ninja then he would've been able to get to his target but he quickly dismissed the idea and just accepted the inevitable. Sighing to himself as all time seemed to had stopped, he looked once more into the amber eyes of his one-sided rivaled opponent and with a sadistic white grin protruding from his face, he landed into the wire and triggered the noose.

In no time at all, the wires snapped into his location. Four wires had attached themselves to both of his ankles and his wrists. His torso had an extra five line weaved around him from chest to abs. The only parts of his body not restrained by wires were his feet and his head… a lot of good that did him since before he could say a word his whole body started to violently thrash about as if he were being thrown around like a rag doll.

There were no screams… there was noise of pain, that was for sure, but it wasn't screaming in anguish… it couldn't be called that since the volts coursing through his body distorted his voice and mangled his insides as if he were in a turbo microwave, getting cooked by all the electricity flowing through his body. After a grueling 2 minutes, Yoshitsune's body fell silent. His body stopped moving as the volts had evenly distributed themselves amongst his body. He had now become a part of the flow of electricity… but for a great price. From what it looked like… he was dead.

"Haa… Haa…" Komui was breathing heavily. It seemed that the use of his threads to pump that much electricity through them was exhausting on his body. His strength had left his arms as they were dangling at his sides. The threads were still taught as they always were but some of them were starting to wane.

"Damn bastard… wouldn't fucking shut up…" He said as he calmed his breathing down to regain his composure. "Oh well… either way, the warrant says dead or alive…" He surmised as he looked back at the rest of the group.

He knew he couldn't hold them there long so he waited and hoped they wouldn't try anything as not much electricity was flowing through the wires… sure it would still hurt to get stung by them but it certainly wouldn't be painful enough to not want to force your way through them.

As he brought his arms back up, he felt a tug on one of his fingers. This was relatively odd to him since nothing should've impeded his movements as he perfectly set up the wires so he could have full control… it was then that he realized what the source of it was.

It was Yoshitsune grabbing a handful of wires in his hand and ripping it towards him, making the wires bend and snap at the irregular force.

He was grinning. He was happy. He was positively insane. With his white teeth piercing out from the shadows of his hair that covered his face, he slowly started to chuckle. That chuckle soon turned into a light laughter… and that light laughter quickly turned into a maniacal cackle.

"AHAHAHA! YES! THIS IS THE THRILL OF BEING ELECTROCUTED! I LOVE IT!" He yelled out with glee as he ripped himself from his bonds, tearing his clothes which he seemed to not give a damn at the moment. He quickly pushed himself forward, catching Komui off guard and shoved his hand into his face, making electricity course through from him into Komui as he established the conduit to pass the surge of electric power.

Komui howled in pain as the volts went straight into his skull. Normally this would've killed a normal human in the blink of a few milliseconds but this was Komui… he was bound to be resistant, or even slightly immune to the effects of electricity. Yoshitsune knew this fact so he went straight for a vital area, something Komui could never fully guard himself against and as such was quickly subdued into submission after 30 seconds of contact.

Sizzling to the ground and falling to his knees, Komui fell from the grip of the tattered Yoshitsune. His pupils were white. His ears were protruding with smoke. His hair was spikier than usual and his mouth was ajar as if he had seen the most terrifying of wraiths. He knelt there for a little over a second before having the forward momentum of gravity plummet his skull into the ground, making a loud thumping noise as it impacted against the cobblestone.

Standing above his prey like a child who just broke his toy, Yoshitsune stood there, taking in what just occurred. It was hard to tell if he was sad or just plain bored with the outcome. It was silence that took hold of the area for a few moments before he finally knelt down and picked up the bag of flesh known formerly as 'Komui the Spider'. "And the itsy bitsy spider… went up the spout again." He ended to childish lyrics. He then looked back at his group of acquaintances who honestly were shocked at the spectacle before them. Breaking the silence that consumed them, Yoshitsune grinned with his childish smile.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" He smiled as he pulled a large amount of wire from the surrounding area and made a cocoon out of it to hold Komui in.

"W-wait a second… we're taking him with us?!" Kazu exclaimed as if the man had clearly lose all of his common sense brain cells.

"Yea… why not?" He replied as he finished his work. "I mean seriously he's so adorable!" He reasoned as he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder.

"Actually we could use someone like him." Miyuri intervened as Kazu was about to lose his mind.

"No we don't… you just want more people to see things your way you demon woman." Agito chimed in after the longest time he'd stayed silent.

"Oh c'mon guys… we don't need to fight over something like this. Besides if we stay here any longer the cops are sure to find us." Buccha said as he and Onigiri trudged forward, taking the initiative to leave the area.

"They're right… if we stay here much longer, we're bound to get found. Just listen, there's sirens not too far from here." Arashi stated as he looked over at Daisuke to see what the hell he was doing.

Moving up to the unconscious rider, Daisuke quickly ejected some sort of chip from the man's AT's and quickly inputted it into his portable extension for his computer. It was there that a screen full of numbers and stats pulled up which showed the details of the AT's.

"H-Holy shit!" Daisuke yelled as he looked at Yoshitsune. "Y-You mean to tell me that this is Komui the Spider?! He's a fucking King-Class rider!" He yelled as he looked over the statistics.

"Yea… of course he's King-Class… he wouldn't have put up much of a fight if he wasn't." Yoshitsune stated as if it were common knowledge.

"B-But this guy… this person has an AT power level of over 280! You've got to be joking! You just electrocuted and imprisoned a very high class rider and you're taking him prisoner?!" Daisuke erupted in a mix of emotions. He wasn't sure how to take this. It was as if you took the Dali Llama from his palace and smacked him across the face before taking him away as if it was your pet.

"And how high do you think my power level is?" Yoshitsune grinned as he was waiting for a response.

"U-Uhm… I wouldn't know unless I saw your chip." Daisuke responded in his techie language as he looked at the AT's the man was wearing.

"Well I'll just tell you. It's over 9000!" He yelled in glee as he started to laugh to himself.

Sweat-dropping at the comment, Daisuke quickly replaced the chip in the unconscious man's AT's and quickly zoomed forth. He wasn't keen on being near police. Ever since he hacked into the Japanese government's security systems a few years ago, he's been under surveillance. I guess that could be one reason why he would hate the police but he wasn't too enthusiastic on telling the others about it.

"Are you ladies about done?" Ikki asked as he noticed the group he was travelling with had increased even further. "We need to find something to transport us in. We've got to keep moving, I understand that, but I don't know anything that can hold us all." He enlightened to the group with the problem he was facing.

"Let me handle that." The blonde man said with a grin as he pulled out his cell phone. "Oh look at that… full battery!" He said excitedly as he pushed a couple of buttons before putting it away. "Let's keep moving… our transport is on the way." He said before moving forward.

With the party in tow, Yoshitsune led the group to a large 18-wheeler truck which just happened to be sitting at a 4-way stop sign in the middle of the street. As the man opened up the back of the vehicle, the inside was completely deck out with sofas, televisions, refrigerators and carpets to add to the comfort of the place. If anyone didn't know any better, they'd think Yoshitsune was the king of the world when it came to cash and having the proper hook-ups… Actually it probably wasn't that far off.

"W-What the fuck is this?!" Kazu, Agito, Buccha, Ikki, Onigiri, Daisuke and Arashi said at the same time as their eyes fell upon the mobile heaven that lay before them.

"This… is our ride." Yoshitsune grinned as he threw Komui into the truck as if he were an object and he plopped himself down on the couch. "C'mon in. Make yourselves at home and enjoy the refreshments in the fridges. Free of charge." The man said as if he were the devil making a contract with the use of gluttony.

Everyone immediately ran into the truck; not only to get away from the police but to enjoy the time they could in peace as they were in need of it. Kisaragi was in pretty rough shape despite him unleashing his true potential. The team hadn't slept in a long time since they arrived at 'The Tower' and overall it was just a very tiring day. Too many things had happened for them to fully comprehend what they had accomplished. It was soon come to light though when Miyuri stood up and confronted the blonde man.

"So what is it that you can do to help us?" Miyuri asked, getting straight to the point.

"Oh? Getting right down to it already? Man you ARE a slave driver…" Yoshitsune sighed as he cocked his head in the other direction.

"You OWE me Yoshitsune… we've done our part of the bargain to earn your trust and loyalty to our cause so hold up your end of the bargain and assist us with your assets." Miyuri reasoned, holding a figurative poisoned blade to the green-eyed grinning bastard.

"But I've already done all I can. You've accomplished a lot more tonight than you would have ever been able to in three years." He stated as he looked at her pissed off face more clearly. "And from the looks of it… you look like you could use some beauty sleep." He said as he stood up to get a clearer view.

"S-Sleep?! How can we sleep at a time like this when we have so much more work that needs to be done? We have to spread the word around so we can confront The Blood King!" Miyuri yelled, enraged that the man was taking things too simply.

"And what makes you think that you haven't spread your influence enough? I mean look." The man said before pulling up the news about what was going on around the world.

"-And that concludes our evening weather forecast." The news lady said as she was handed a new set of papers. "Next, our new topic for tonight: Who is 'The Blood King' and what is it that he wants to accomplish with his new wave of revolution? Images that were leaked from an anonymous source show that his methods of persuasion of the overall populace has been brutal. It truly begs to question though on what he intends to do and the people who are blindly following him after all he's done. Just recently within the past hour, we've received full detailed reports of the past three weeks of what this man has committed. We've taken the liberty to show these images to key individuals of the national security force and have labeled 'The Blood King' as a terrorist. Several nations of the United Nations have pulled together their resources and funds to create a movement against the vigilante in an attempt to quell the rebellion and reestablish peace. Please stay tuned as we talk to those key individuals across these nations." The anchorwoman said as they went to break.

As the commercials turned on, Yoshitsune took the liberty of turning the television off. He thought with that, that he got his point across to her.

"Y'see? You've done a lot more tonight than you would have ever thought to accomplish in three years." He restated as he plopped down on the soft couch again. "Now, about that nap?" He rhetorically asked as he started to snooze off himself.

As he was about to enter into a state of sleep, Miyuri kicked him hard in the shin making him jolt up in pain.

"O-Ow what the fuck?!" Yoshitsune complained as he gripped his shin.

"You get off the hook… this time." She said as she walked to the back to notice there was a door with a bed inside.

'God damn she is a slave driver… even though I made a special room JUST FOR HER!' he yelled out in his mind as quickly tried his best to get some rest himself. He flipped a random switch that was over his head and smiled to himself as he would eventually go to sleep.

"Don't think that you making this happen gets you off my shit list Yoshitsune!" Miyuri yelled from the room as she plopped onto the bed. It didn't her long to notice something was off though. As soon as she looked up, she noticed the vents overhead with fuming with an odd-tinted smoke. It was then that she noticed what it really was.

Knock-out gas.

'T-That rat bastard!' She gritted her teeth as she noticed the danger too late to get away from it. As soon as she straightened herself up to immediately break for the door, a large puff of smoke entered into her nostrils and she plopped straight back down into the bed like a dead log. In a matter of seconds, she was out.

Grinning to himself and hearing the lack of noise coming from the room that the she-devil was in, the blonde, rat bastard noted that his plan had worked. Yoshitsune had successfully taken control of the whole situation with one fell swoop in a manner of seconds. Everyone, including Agito, was knocked out in a matter of moments. Taking in some of the gas himself, he went to sleep with a large grin plastered across his face with the thought of the cold winds of Russia entering his mind.

* * *

[Airport Freeway, Los Angeles]

"WHAT MADE YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?! I WAS JUST KIDDING!" Marcel complained as both he and Hiyu were skating down the telephone wires of the freeway, just outside the airport. "And besides, how in the fuck are we supposed to get on this thing without anyone seeing us?!" He continued to complain as Hiyu quickly eyeballed him to make him stop his incessant bickering.

"Do you ever listen to plans when they're formulated?" Hiyu questioned his intolerant ally as they both landed on the roof of the parking garage of the airport.

"Yea I listen… but only when there's something good to talk about… what you guys are thinking is literally 'Mission: Impossible' bullshit." The tanned man replied, almost irritated at the thought of what he was supposed to do.

"Well then, what's the problem?" Hiyu got to the point, trying to hush him up.

"How are we supposed to get on?!"

"Let me handle it."

"Let you handle what?!"

"Let me handle getting on the fucking airplane. What else?!"

"How are we supposed to get on it then? I want to be a part of the plan too!"

"Then shut up so I can explain it you dumbass!" Hiyu yelled at him finally, completely ticked off at Marcel's thinking process.

* * *

_[Flashback]_

"…And that's how we get on. Everyone understand?" Benkei summarized as she looked around to see if there were any questions.

"No, I think we're all good. I just need to trigger the fire alarm right?" Hiyu clarified as he thought of what he needed to do.

"Yep. That should buy you enough time to roll into the cargo area. Everyone is going to be concerned about a fire that doesn't exist so it should provide you ample time to do what you need to do." Benkei responded, explaining the reaction she was hoping to expect.

Marcel stayed silent while he was munching on some food provided by the hospital. He was too enthralled with what cartoons were showing on the TV to give a damn to the briefing that was being held. Even if you called his name several times you wouldn't get a response.

"Marcel, be sure to follow Hiyu's lead and get on that cargo hold… once you do you'll be staying in there till we land so be sure to at least go to the bathroom before you lock yourself in there." Benkei noted to the man who wasn't fully paying attention.

"Right. Got it." He replied back with a monotone voice as if he were a zombie.

"You sure?" Benkei asked again to put her mind at ease.

"Yeah… got it…" He stated again, not even breaking eye contact with the TV.

* * *

_[End Flashback]_

"So there we go. All we need to do is trigger the fire alarm on the far wall of the airport complex and it should give us enough of a distraction to get into the cargo hold." Hiyu summarized as he jumped from the car garage and onto the connecting tunnel which led to the main building.

Using his inept ability to generate friction in his AT's, Hiyu quickly started to outline the places he rode with trails of fire. Inevitably at some point, someone would see the fire and start to freak out because of it.

"H-Hey I thought the plan was to just activate the fire alarm!" Marcel cried out with surprise as he was dodging the wakes of fire streams that jetted out from the ground beneath Hiyu's streaks in the floor.

"Well, normally you'd be right…" Hiyu replied as he jumped up into the air and created a small vortex of flames from his front flip. "…However, there was one thing that Benkei left out during the briefing…" Hiyu sweat-dropped at his memory as it left one vital flaw in the entire plan.

"And that is…?"

"She didn't tell me where it was…" Hiyu deadpanned as he jumped onto the main building spire which centralized the entire complex.

From there he started to make his way around the spire, climbing ever higher, creating a trail in his wake. This in turn made the entire spire look like a Christmas tree that was lined with lights… but instead of lights it was jets and streams of fire which outlined a spire of metal, concrete and glass. To finish off his creation, Hiyu made his way to the top of the spire before launching off into the air, the friction of the flames of his AT's following his every movement until bursting out from the spire like a volcano erupting from the ground. It was truly a spectacle to behold when the flames blossomed out like a flower in spring, only to die down and fall to the ground as pieces of char which littered the building.

"There we go. That should do it." Hiyu commented as he landed on the building once again, just a few hundred yards away from the flight that Benkei and the others had just gotten in.

In a matter of seconds, the sounds of the fire alarms could be heard throughout the entire building. Sirens could be heard in the distance and screaming from the faint-hearted females that could be heard screaming in every cliché movie littered the sound barrier as if that was the only reason they were born. It was from there that both Marcel and Hiyu quickly launched themselves from the building, skated their way into the bottom of the aircraft which held all the luggage, and dug themselves inside as stowaways. Everything had gone according to plan… or at least as much as they could.

"Damn man that was some riding you did there!" Marcel said excitedly as he felt the unnecessary urge to keep riding even though they were supposed to be hiding.

"Yeah well… once we get to Bexcoal we can do all the riding we want there… besides, we'll most likely meet him there…" Hiyu replied as he holed up in his corner looking at the picture of his friend that he had on his phone.

This wasn't your ordinary picture that you'd have seen in the recordings of 'The Blood King'. This was a picture of THE Kiritsu Kaizer… it was a softer image of him. He didn't have a piercing red crimson gaze that screamed _evil._ He had soft scarlet eyes that enveloped your vision as you made eye contact. His face was radiant as his white teeth smiled from the depth of his heart. His pose wasn't threatening nor was it mysterious… it was care-free, simple and moreover… it was warm and genuine. It was hard to even compare the two photos of the one who was once Kiritsu Kaizer as it was too grand of a difference to make the comparison. On one end you had a bloodthirsty, vengeful, fearful and despicable man… while on the other end of the spectrum you had a care-free rider without so much as a hint of anger within him… sure he may have had his dark sides on sadistic humor but didn't every rider have some sort of urge like that? It wasn't like it would lead them to do something so drastic as 'The Blood King' was doing now… It just didn't make sense to Hiyu and it was because of this very picture that he still had hope… hope that he still had a chance to save his friend from his fate that enraged him so such a degree.

Looking at the picture for a while longer, Hiyu started to smile to himself as he recalled all the crazy things that had happened between them. They were both stupid and chaotic when it came to riding… always living on the edge, always pushing themselves to their utter limits and never taking shit from anyone who crossed their paths. It made their relationship a one-of-a-kind thing… it wasn't something that could be explained, it could only be shown and that's what made him believe that there was a light somewhere in this dark pit of despair the world had tumbled into. He was soon interrupted in his reminiscing moment when Marcel pegged him with a question.

"U-Uh… Hiyu…? How long are we going to be in this plane again?" Marcel asked Hiyu as it dawned on him his predicament.

"About 7 hours… why?" Hiyu replied, unsure with why he had a shocked expression.

"I-I need to go to the bathroom…" He said with a frightened tone as he was holding onto his crotch like his civility was on the line.

"Y-You've got to be joking!" Hiyu yelled as the hatch closed and the plane was set to take off.

From there it was a rather comedic moment… or at least it would've been if Hiyu wasn't stuck in the same area as Marcel. Using the darkness to his advantage and eventually succumbing to the overwhelming need to empty his bowels, Marcel gracefully dropped his pants at his ankles, opened up a victim's belonging and began to acquaint himself with the contents before utterly ruining them… It was then that he sealed it up and dug it down deep so he wouldn't have to see it again.

Through the chain of events as well as how eventful Hiyu's day was… he found some sleep in the confines of the cargo hold. Granted, it wouldn't be that good of a sleep, but he had to do something for the next 7 hours… might as well sleep eh? With the though on his mind of what he should do when the time comes to confront his best friend… Hiyu slowly crept into a sleep.

* * *

[Lone Wolves Den, Bexcoal]

The smell of blood filled the air as The Blood King was dragged into the den's throne room. His bloodied, tattered clothes were drenched in a dye of crimson. His eyes were wavering and it didn't seem that he was going to last long in that state. He was tired, he was hurting and above all else he was delirious.

The fight with Dante Fangs dealt a lot more damage to him than he thought but what was worse was the toll the 'Black Wings' took on him when he activated them. His legs were torn to shreds from where the metal implanted itself into his flesh. The scorching, grating sensation against his legs had seared the wounds shut, leaving scars along the flesh like shrapnel from a grenade. Thankfully, the AT's had finally reverted to their original form when he no longer had the strength to stand, as was the requirement to use such a devastating power. However… to what end would he suffer to obtain strength enough to take over the world?

"Place him on the table! Get me some hot water, some rags and above all else, don't touch his AT's or his legs!" Zyra commanded the rabble of riders who were frantically looking at the bloody corpse of the man who killed their leader.

"Is he going to be okay?" Sora asked, sounding a little concerned despite his true nature.

"You asking questions like that isn't going to help Sora!" Zyra hissed back as she shoved him out of the way.

In a quick and elegant display of agility and precision, Zyra showed the group of riders exactly what it meant to be one of the elite of Toul Tool Tou. In her hands were two scalpels, three wrenches, two screw drivers and enough nuts and bolts to build a small contraption. No one really knew how she was able to achieve this feat as it seemed the tools were just floating in mid air as she administered her homemade treatment upon the AT's and the legs which were shredded by them.

Despite her speed and meticulous pinpoint skills, it was a grueling process. The shards of metal shrapnel that were lodged within the legs had to be dug out. The AT's had been melted to a degree and the screws that kept the AT's together had fused to the metal. It would be a long process to try and peel off the metal pieces without breaking 'The Black Wings' or The Muramasa… if that was even possible. To top it all off there were little to no pain killers to subside the pain and soon the swelling would overtake the flesh and make it even harder to get at the pieces. She had to act fast and with only her hands working at the wounds, it would be a test of faith and luck before she even stood a snowballs chance in hell to make it work.

She had to succeed though… failure was not an option. If she wasn't able to save this man's life, she wouldn't be able to find another who was so well in tune with The Muramasa. The Muramasa alone was a chaotic, ever-shifting entity that preyed upon the darkness in a person's heart. It was hard to find someone to tune the wheels to as no one was able to control themselves once they were plunged into darkness. It was either senseless rabble killing indiscriminately or just having the subject commit suicide as they saw no point in having any value in their lives…

Kaizer was different though. He wasn't necessarily evil when Zyra first met him but she knew there was a very deep pit of darkness within his heart. The way he rode AT's and the way he looked out on life made her believe that he as the one. Her suspicions were confirmed that day when she dragged his unconscious body into the lab and place the AT's upon his feet. The process was simple, like putting on a glove. The wheels didn't reject him nor did they accept him. Instead, they fused together like Yin and Yang and became one.

It was like nothing Zyra could have expected. Never in her whole life as a tuner had she seen such a connection between parts and riders. It was almost as if the AT's had become a part of the person and they were one in the same… actually it most likely was that as two months later, after receiving the AT's, Kaizer had shifted his views and became known now as 'The Blood King'. His mentality may have been put in jeopardy and his overall sanity may have been destroyed but he was an intelligent and wise man with a set goal. Usually, one would call him mad but to Zyra… she would call him a master of the new world to be if he got his way.

Zyra quickly snapped herself back to reality when she realized that she had finally dug deep enough into his flesh to see the first few pieces of shrapnel. Throwing several of the tools into the air, she reached into her back pockets and pulled out two tweezers. Using her quick fingers and powerful techniques she pried into the wound and peeled away the flesh that held the pieces like a womb for a baby. She then tore the pieces of metal out and heard the scraping of metal skip against the floor as she threw it away.

'Three pieces down…' Zyra thought as she noticed The Blood King had finally come around from the immense pain in his legs. He wasn't squirming around like a child would when they were in pain… instead he was sweating profusely. Every so often he was grit his teeth beneath the gag that was placed over his mouth so he wouldn't shatters his teeth from the clenching.

His pain tolerance wouldn't hold up for that long though as Zyra quickly delved deeper into his wounds and wound up having to pull a piece that got implanted into the bone of his shin. The pain was excruciating… so much so that he screamed beneath the gag like a wounded animal and had to be held down so he wouldn't move about the operating table. It took three powerful tugs before Dante himself got angry with how weak she was pulling and decided to take a hold of the tweezers, breaking them at the handle as he squeezed down, and pulled out the piece of shrapnel with a fraction of his strength. This sent The Blood King howling in a fit of anger and pain as his leg's bone had been moved around in his composition of blood, muscles and flesh.

"Y-You idiot!" Zyra yelled at the hulking giant who looked confused as per why he was getting smacked in the chest by the pipsqueak. "What did I just say?!- You know what, never mind! Just go over in that corner and stay out of the way you fucking dumbass!" Zyra screamed at Dante as she went right back to fixing Kaizer's legs.

Thankfully, the bone had shifted back to where it needed to be from the powerful muscles in his legs but that didn't mean his pain was going to subside any time soon. The AT's were still attached to his feet and the metal pieces around his ankles would need to be removed… however to get at those she would need to disassemble the AT's. This would prove to be the greatest challenge of all as the delicate pieces of 'The Black Wings' were never designed to be taken apart once fused to the contraption… she would have to be careful with the parts she took off as any disturbance of the composition of the parts that made 'The Black Wings' would in turn make them completely useless.

Taking in a deep breath and focusing on the task at hand, Zyra slowly started to peel away the outer parts of the AT's which protected the inner contraption. From there she took out the base wheels and set them to the side carefully before going after the base which held 'The Black Wings'. She couldn't unscrew the five screws that held it all together as they had melted together with no way to become undone… so she would have to do it the old fashioned way.

Taking both scalpels in hand, Zyra tore open the top portion of the AT's and freed them from the man. She then carefully went to work on his ankles, tearing apart the flesh and getting quickly at the shrapnel that lay beneath, and throwing it across the ground like the ones before it.

Seeing as how her job on the human portion was done, she now had to deal with 'The Black Wings'… they were in a fragile state at this point and she didn't have much time. Taking both of the base components in hand, she looked back at 'The Blood King' and her face went pale. As it turned out, the second the AT's had left his feet, his pupils had completely gone white. His body had gone into cardiac arrest and he started to convulse…

Zyra had forgotten the most crucial thing that day. It would cost her an arm and leg to fix what she had done but it was already too late. The dye had been cast and the damage administered… if she couldn't get the synchronization back in the next two hours, The Blood Ki- no, Kiritsu Kaizer… would be dead.

**Alright! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm sorry for taking so long in updating even though this is a shorter chapter… thought I would let you all know that I will be taking a short hiatus as I have some work piling up that needs to be taken care of so I won't be able to write as often as I'd like. Please be patient with me as I make the proper adjustments to my schedule as this may be as long as 2-3 weeks before I even get a chance to write again. Anyways, thanks again for all the support you've given me thus far, I'll see you all next time. Till then, stay frosty.**


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